


School Day Blues

by Raven_At_The_Writing_Desk



Series: School Days AU [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Actual Violence, Casual Violence, I Blame the 99th, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Voyeurism, Yaka Arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-12 12:23:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11736963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_At_The_Writing_Desk/pseuds/Raven_At_The_Writing_Desk
Summary: An AU where Yondu is a surly school boy with a bad crush on the teacher.Written as a Birthday gift to @Write_like_an_American, but they said I should share. So here you go.





	1. The Worst Day Ever.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Write_like_an_American](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Write_like_an_American/gifts).



**School Day Blues Chapter 1**

 

**swearing, casual violence, implied child abuse, idk it’s dark-ish**

 

It was, as usual, a bad morning for Yondu. He woke to the screaming of his foster brothers as they tromped through the two story house, terrorizing either the small nervous Pomeranian, or the pissy black cat. He took this as his only warning to get out of bed, and dressed as fast as possible, before either Brad or Gary, made it to his closet of a room and made him their next target. Not that Yondu couldn’t handle himself, but Brad Sr., his foster-dad, didn’t like when his two precious boys got their asses handed to him. 

This daily threat helped Yondu make an art form out of dressing for school, grabbing his pack, and sliding out of the bedroom without being noticed. He’d even make it downstairs to the kitchen most days before being noticed. If Brad Sr. didn’t require him to show up for breakfast, he’d slip out of the house too, but after about a week of getting his own ass tanned, he stopped doing that. Breakfast wasn’t that bad, just stupid daily prayers to the big sky daddy above and he could wolf down his food, then run most of the way to school. It wasn’t that he wanted to be on time, he just didn’t want to walk with Taserface and Halfnut, Brad Jr. and Gary, as they collected the rest of their stupid crew of friends. 

This morning though had a major hiccup in Yondu’s routine. He made it downstairs just as Taserface stormed up the stairs, and especially evil glint in his eyes. 

“Got you a butt-buddy, jerk-face,” Taserface said. Yondu frowned, but said nothing. Taserface was always trying to goad Yondu into something stupid. He was onto it. 

Yondu walked silently into the kitchen, keeping his crimson eyes peeled. Halfnut was laughing his high-pitched nasal laugh and that was never a good sign. When he turned the corner he saw why. A small ginger hair boy was sitting at the table, his legs not quite touching the ground in the over-sized chair he sat in. His head hung low, looking miserable.  Yondu could see he was pink skinned lad with a generous dusting of freckles. He looked up at Yondu from under his ginger fringe, and his crystal-blue eyes were full of anger. 

Yondu knew that look. It was the same look he’d had when he’d showed up in the Courg household on Xandar. Fresh from being ‘rescued’ from the Kree Children’s home he’d been dumped in by his own family. He was scarred, disfigured, and completely pissed. At least this kid looked to have all his vital parts intact. 

“Udonta,” Brad Sr said. “This is Peter Quill, he’s gonna be staying in your room with you a while.” Brad Sr curled his roasted nut-sack looking face into an unfriendly snarl. “You two are gonna be roomies.” 

Yondu said nothing, kept his face blank. Brad Sr. liked nothing more than getting a rise out of Yondu. “Whatchu think of that boy?” 

Yondu cut his eyes left to Halfnut’s creepy grinning face half hid by his pretty hair, then to Peter, who looked so fresh and green. 

“Sounds nice sir,” Yondu said. Brad Sr. and Halfnut laughed together, a guttural sound overlaid with a whinny. 

“I bet it does,” Halfnut said before laughing again. 

Yondu just kept his face neutral, and looked away from the boy, the less interest he showed, the better for them both. 

“Alright!” Brad Sr. roared over this keening of his son, “Brad, get in here, it’s time for breakfast!” 

Taserface clomped into the kitchen, his thick black hair pulled in a messy braid down his hack and Yondu noted the look he gave the boy. Something stirred in Yondu, and like a fucking idiot he stepped into Taserface path to the table. Taserface collided with Yondu, and the look of shock on his face was almost worth the snarled insult and the fist that sunk into his gut. Yondu stomped on Taserface foot as he brought his bald head up into Taserface’s wrinkled chin, and the fight was on. Brad Sr. broke it up with his his giant meaty hands and his not so gentle smacks against Yondu’s head and the sturdy red implant left from his time at the Kree home. Yondu knew better than to fight back, and curled up, waiting for it to be over. 

Brad Sr.’s thrashing was quick that morning, he must have been hungry. When he’d bloodied Yondu’s nose, he stopped, and sent Yondu upstairs to wash up before school. Yondu rolled his shoulders, wiped navy blood from his nose, and silently trudged way. 

“Show the Terran brat where he’s sleeping while yer at it!” Brad Sr. roared from the kitchen. Yondu didn’t wait to see if the kid was following him up, but the sound of a second pair of lighter feet told him the kid was on his heels. He led the way up the stairs and down the hall. 

“Yer room.” He just gestured at the closed door as he proceeded to the shared bathroom to wipe blood off his face. He wouldn’t be able to wipe the black eye away so easily, but no one was going to ask anyway. 

“Why’d you do that?” The kid, Yondu wasn’t going to bother remembering his name, was standing in the doorway. Yondu looked over at him as he patted his face dry on a towel. 

“Do what?” He asked suspiciously.

“Pick a fight with that guy?” The kid said. He held up a shirt that Yondu recognized as one he’d thrown in the floor yesterday. He took it slowly tilting his chin up and studying the kid. 

“Maybe I just like a good morning fight? Wakes up the system.” 

“Whatever,” the kid said looking petulant. Yondu shrugged and pulled his bloody shirt off and slipped the day-old shirt on quickly. The kid sucked in a breath.

“Where’d you get all those scars?” His blue eyes were wide and he was reaching out. Yondu jerked back as he settled the shirt over his torso. 

“You ask a lot of questions you know?” He said with a snarl, and pushed the kid out of the way was he went by. Not too hard, not into the wall like Taserface would have done, but hard enough to get his point across. 

“Don’t think we’re friends or nothin’ jus ‘cause we’re sharing a room.” He said over his shoulder, he had to lay the ground rules early, before the idiot got ideas in his head. He heard a sniff from behind him, but refused to turn around. 

Ground rules, he thought, ground rules.

***

 

Yondu didn’t really go to to school as much as he just existed in school and let it happen around him. The only good thing about school was that it was six hours that he was out of the house and away from Brad Sr. The bad news was, one precious hour of those six had to be negotiated carefully since the Xandarian mandated lunch hour meant all the classes were out at the at the same time and it was possible to encounter Taserface and Halfnut and their moronic friends. That never ended well so Yondu had taken to hiding as far from the commons as he could get, which put him between the Upper School and the Lower School of the Xandar School for Boys. 

He had a spot there, that was close to the academic offices where the teachers hid from the students during their own lunch breaks. Behind a particularly robust tree there was hollow completely surrounded by lush branches and barely trimmed bushes. It took a minute to squeeze in, but once he was, he could sit in quietly and calmly, inhaling the smell of evergreen sap and moist earth. It soothed him like a balm, and pulled on something just outside his ability to understand, something rooted in his missing crest. 

There was a second bonus to the hiding place, and that was it was just beside the office window for Professor Stakar. He taught history and literature. He gave most of his lectures on the exploits of well organized pirates, both planet bound and space fairing. Often, Stakar would crack his window while he prepped over his lunch hour reviewing and practicing his lectures for the day. Yondu would sit and listen to the deep baritone voice as it rose and fell, talking about pirates, outlaws, and the military that often failed to stop them. It was the closest Yondu would ever get to seeing one of Stakar’s classes. Stakar only taught honor classes, only to the top students, and Yondu would never fall into the category. Still, he could sit and dream that he might, or that he was one of those pirates, free to roam space on a whim. Stakar's voice stirred things inside him that he didn’t have words for yet, but yearned for none the less. 

He was eager to get to his personal space today. The weather was nice, he could tell Stakar’s window was open, and he could already hear the booming voice from inside. Yondu was grinning as he wiggled into his hidey hole and that grin soured when he saw what was waiting for him. 

“You gotta be kiddn’ me,” Yondu said locking eyes with the ginger haired boy. The boy looked back at him, then put his finger to his lips. 

“Shhh,” The boy, Peter, pointed up at the window. Stakar spoke about the last armada of the Pirate Gathrul, a pirate admiral who had successfully avoided the Xandarian space patrols for decades, all the while building his own fleet, until he suffered an unfortunate bout of dementia and tried to take on the entire Xandarian space navy. Yondu knew this story, and loved it. He was torn between tossing the kid, and listening to Stakar talk. He narrowed his ruby eyes at the boy and shoved him over some so Yondu could lean against the school wall. Then they sat there, spell bound by Stakar’s well rehearsed delivery of Captain Gathrul’s fate. When the climatic end of the clever captain’s life came, Stakar’s voice dipped to a solemn tone.

“Gathrul was so respected for his abilities as a captain, that even his long time rivals requested that he be given a full Captain’s funeral, with honors,” Stakar said, his deep voice adding gravity to the words. “The Xandairan government refused on ground he was a Pirate, and not to be afforded the honers granted their own captains. Legend has it, the Admiral Haxmaire, the man credited with bringing Gathrul down, then stole his body, retreated to deep space with his fleet and a few select others, and gave Gathrul the burial in space they believed he deserved. With full Honors.”

“Wow,” the boy said softly so only Yondu could hear him. Yondu nodded despite himself. “That guy was a bad-ass.”

“Yup,” Yondu agreed with a smile, then stopped himself. Ground rules! “Now get the fuck out of here, before they have to bury you in deep space too.” 

He balled his fist and shook it under the kid’s nose. The kid just looked skeptically from it to Yondu. 

“Why are  you blue?” He asked and Yondu sucked his teeth. 

“Why are you peach and spotted?” Yondu asked mocking and shaking his fist. “Git.”

“What’s the thing on your head?” The kid asked, a defiant tilt to his lips. 

Yondu glared, He didn’t have a good comeback for that one. He’d been little more than a living test subject at the Kree school, as most unwanted children were when left in the Kree sector. He didn’t honestly know why he had it or why his actual crest was taken. He just remembered the pain and the deep and confusing sense of loss. He also wasn’t going to share that with anyone. He leaned in so he was eye to eye with the younger boy.

“Get. The. Fuck. Out,” He said being as menacing as he could. 

The boy narrowed his own eyes and didn’t budged. Yondu’s eyes flared in exasperation. “I will seriously punch you if you don’t leave!” 

“Do it then,” The kid said and Yondu almost saw red, almost. 

He dropped his fist and stood up fast, smacking his head on a low branch and swearing colorfully. Snarling he thrashed his way out of his hidey hole and back into the light. Fucking kid! Who did he think he was?

“Young man!”  Yondu froze, his stomach lurched. He knew that voice. “What are you doing in the bushes?” 

Gritting his teeth he turned to look into the square face of Professor Stakar. The man didn’t look overly pleased to see Yondu standing in his bushes. Stakar had his window opened all the way and was leaning out it to look at Yondu. 

“Well?” Stakar didn’t look like the kind of man you didn’t answer. 

“Uh,” Yondu said stupidly.

The kid popped up beside him, his ginger head coming just under Yondu’s ribs. Stakar looked from one to the other and arched a bushy black eyebrow. 

“We were listening to you talk,” Peter said, and Yondu felt his bruised face flush. 

He just might kill the boy for real now. Stakar looked from Peter to Yondu and smirked. 

“Were you?” He asked. Yondu just swallowed. Stakar jerked his chin and gestured for them to come closer. “Why don’t you two just come to my office now?” 

Yondu felt his stomach fall out. Fuck, he was going to get chewed out by this guy, and he’d lost his hiding hole, and that was after he’d gotten his ass busted for this stupid fucking kid. 

“Can we really?” Peter jumped excitedly. “Can we climb in through the window?” Peter asked walking towards Stakar like he already had permission. Stakar chuckled softly. 

“I guess,” He said. “You’re from the Lower School?” 

“Yup, just started today, I’m Peter Quill, I’m staying with him,” Peter flailed an arm at Yondu as he started to climb in the window. 

Stakar leaned back to let the boy in, then looked back at Yondu. His face was soft with humor, and it made Yondu squirm. 

“Are you going to climb in my window too?” Stakar asked, something in his voice made Yondu quiver. 

“Should I?” Yondu asked not sure what to do about his roiling stomach. 

“Fortune favors the bold,” Stakar said, a kind of expression Yondu didn’t understand on his face.  

Yondu wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he figured Stakar didn’t look too pissed. He wandered over as naturally as possible, and hoisted himself into the window. Stakar backed away as Yondu lowered himself into the fastidious office. Books and digital book pads were shelved along the walls. Good quality furniture filled out the space, and looked like actual wood. Where shelves didn’t reach, holopictures of ships, bit sea and space hung on the walls, and a few well made models adorned empty space on shelves. His desk held a personal unit with a simple flat screen and a projected hologram interface, a paper blotter with several notes scribbled on it in tidy, square print, and a lamp. Stakar stood in the middle of his office now, looking his two visitors over. 

“Your office is mag!” Peter said darting around to look at the models while Yondu resisted the urge to smack him in the back of his head. 

“And you are?” Stakar asked gesturing to Yondu. He swallowed again his throat dry. 

“Udonta, Yondu Udonta, sir.” He was ready for anything. Ready for the blow he knew was going to come, or the rage, the yelling. Brad Sr. would have done so, his former guardians the Kree home would have done so. He watched Stakar and kept an eye on Peter, if Stakar went for the boy…

“How old are you, Udonta?” Stakar asked moving over to his desk and towards Peter. Yondu moved too, snatching Peter back by his uniform shirt and yanking Peter against him. Stakar just arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. 

“I’m almost nineteen standard cycles sir,” Yondu said, playing off his grip on Peter as if he was restraining him, which he sort of was. The kid would not stop squirming.

“A little old for the school aren’t you?” Stakar asked. 

Yondu shrugged. He’d been held back because of his lack of equivalent schooling when he’d been ‘rescued’ from the Kree children’s home. 

“Well, call me ‘professor’ not ‘sir’,” Stakar said when it was evident he wasn’t going to get a better answer. Yondu just nodded. 

“You’re the one who’s outside my window most days?” Stakar asked, hitching a hip onto his desk. 

Yondu blinked, then blushed. Fuck, Stakar knew he was out there. Stakar laughed. “You’re not in trouble, Udonta. I just figured, if you wanted to hear my lectures that badly, you could just come to my class.”

“You teach a class?” Peter squirmed as Yondu gaped. “Can I come too?”

“Me, si-er, Professor?” Yondu hadn’t hear him correctly. “I ain't in advanced classes.”

“Who is credited with the founding of the Rapshaw spaceport?” Stakar asked in a tone that made It clear he wanted an answer.

Yondu thought about it. Rapshaw had been well known smugglers’ satellite that had been destroyed about a hundred years back. Before that it functioned for about four hundred years. 

“Assovon from Tavvis,” Yondu said saying the name slowly. 

Stakar nodded. 

“Who were the Knights of the Deep?” Stakar asked.

“A group of renegade Glaem officers who defected from the empire to go hunt for smugglers and pirates in the outer rings. They thought they were called by some weird celestial.” Yondu said automatically.

“A celestial named?” Stakar prompted. 

“Mathos?” Yondu said, not positive. Stakar nodded again.

“I think you could survive my class,” The professor said. Yondu blinked. 

“Can I come too?” Peter repeated and Yondu actually let the squirt go he was so dumbfounded. 

“I’ll talk to the dean and get your schedule adjusted,” Stakar was saying, but Yondu  didn’t really hear him, he just hear the sound of his heart pounding. 

He was going to be in Stakar’s actual class? Sitting in the actual class, hearing Stakar’s lectures, in the actual fucking class? “Udonta?” Stakar said, then Yondu jerked as Peter stomped on his foot. 

“Ow! You little shit!” Yondu turned on Peter, “I have seriously had about enough of you today!” 

Peter blinked and Yondu snatched him up by his shirt. 

“B-but he was talking to you,” Peter stammered and pointed to Stakar. 

Yondu felt the gut punching feeling again as he sheepishly let Peter go and winced as he turned back to face Stakar. The professor hadn’t moved from his position on the edge of the desk, and he looked carefully neutral. Yondu sighed. Whelp so much for that.

“S-sorry,” Yondu said not able to look at the man. 

“Be in my class tomorrow at fourteen-hundred,” Stakar said. “Don’t be late.”

Yondu looked up again, confused and panicked and everything all at once. Stakar just shook his head. 

“Don’t look so confused Udonta, show up, and be ready to learn.”

The bell chime signaling the end of lunch rang out, and Stakar gestured them out the door of his office.  Yondu pulled Peter along, still shocked, and still residually wanting to strangle Peter. 

“Hey, you!” One of the ever present roaming monitors called out to them as Yondu wandered down the hall. He focused on the dweeb. They were all dweebs in his opinion, older students who were suckers for rules. They got drafted into the Corp and patrolled the halls and quads, making sure everyone was following the rules. 

“What are you doing in the Teacher’s Hall? And why do you have a Lower School Student with you?”

Yondu glared at the slightly taller student and pushed Peter behind him. The kid had the sense to stay put for once. 

“Talking with Professor Stakar, why? What are you doing in the teacher’s hall?” Yondu smirked crossing his arms. 

The Hall Corps student tried to look intimidating, but Yondu just continued to smirk and flexed his biceps. He might be a short guy, but he was built, and he knew how to use his bulk to intimidate. The Hall Corps kid looked a little unnerved, but tired to play it off. 

“Get to your class, and I’ll take him back to his,” The Hall Corps student reached for Peter, but the kid snapped at his hand and the student jerked back. “Did he just try to bite me?”

“Probably shouldn’t touch him,” Yondu said, a gleeful glint in his eye. “He’s fresh off his planet, just got vaccinated and all. Pr’oly still contagious,” He grinned evilly. “Maybe I should take him back over there?”

“Uh, s-sure,” The Hall Corp kid held his hand against his chest, and just looked terrified. “G-go on then.” 

He shooed them off. Yondu grabbed Peter’s shirt collar again and pulled him along. They got back outside and Yondu yanked Peter halfway back to the Lower School where his class was.

“Look you little shit,” Yondu said turning Peter to face him and wagging a finger in his pale face. “You almost cost me big back there. Fuck up like that again, and I ain't gonna be that nice, you got me?” 

Peter just glared at Yondu, a fierce little package of ginger hair, youthful freckles, and jewel bright eyes. Yondu didn’t like what he saw there, didn’t like that he saw too much of himself.

“You’re not my boss,” Peter said. 

“Yeh?” Yondu said. “Thank the stars for that. You you better watch your damn mouth if you don’t want Brad Sr. to bust you up like busted me. You think he won't, then yer a lot dumber than you look. Get back to yer fucking classes and meet me out by the gates after class to go home. Stay the hell away from Taserface and Halfnut, period. You got me?” He gave Peter one good shake, as if that would drive his point home. “You don’t listen, I can’t help you.”

He let go of Peter then and just turned around and walked away. Damn Terran brat, so much for his fucking ground rules. 

 

***

 

Peter waited, or rather he hid where Yondu saw him, by the school gate at the end of classes. Yondu swung by and simply jerked his head for the boy to follow him. Peter fell in step without a word and they walked like that for a time. 

“Why do you call them Halfnut and Taserface?” Peter asked and Yondu sighed mentally. It had been a nice quiet walk. 

“Because that’s what they want to be called, and those are pretty stupid names, works out,” Yondu said. 

“Yeah,” Peter agreed. They walked some more in silence. 

“Sorry about making you lose your hiding place,” Peter said and Yondu ground his teeth. It had worked out, and that was the only reason he wasn’t going to throttle the little brat. When Yondu didn’t respond Peter gave a little huff. “How come you live with Brad Sr.?”

“Caus I ain't 19 yet,” Yondu said. Brad Sr. had gotten an extension on his guardianship of Yondu because he’d been held back a year at school. It let Brad Sr. continue to collect government money for raising Yondu, and had the added bonus of giving him a punching bag. Yondu had a very bad feeling that Peter was to be his replacement since both Taserface and Halfnut had a year of school left after Yondu graduated. 

He looked at the ginger kid out of the corner of his eye. He’d been about Peter’s age when he’d come to Brad Sr.’s home, but Halfnut and Taserface had been about the same age at the time too. They’d grown up together, their strength and his endurance matching theirs as they grew, even if his height hadn’t kept up. Peter was small, and he was going to stay small for a while, and a lot could happen in a year. He still remembered how Brad Sr. made his ears ring when he’d been smacked around at Peter’s age. He winced inwardly at the idea of it happening to Peter.

“Why you look constipated?” Peter asked, looking at Yondu. 

“Cuas I am,” Yondu said, then frowned when Peter snickered.

Fucking kid. He’d be lucky to make it a month before Brad Sr.  snapped his neck. 

“When we get home, go straight to the room. Don’t fuck around, and don’t get in anyone’s way. When it’s dinner time, come straight down, don’t say nothing, and just eat and wait to be excused, then go right back to the room. You got me?” Yondu said as stopped on the last block to the house. “Don’t fuck around.” 

“Why?” Peter asked, and his little flair of anger lit his eyes. “You’re not my boss.” He crossed his arms and stuck out his jaw. 

“Then get yer ass beat then,” Yondu said matching his stance. “If it ain't Brad Sr. who’ll crack you one it’ll be one of the brothers.” He shrugged. “But if that’s what you want, do it.” 

He turned again and walked the last block to the house, Peter’s fast footsteps keeping up. 

When they walked in, Yondu gave the entry hall once over, then gestured for Peter to go quickly upstairs. He moved to follow, and then cursed when he head the dog scream. Halfnut stood at the top of the stairs, the dog hanging helplessly from it’s back legs. It screamed again and Peter made an angry noise. 

“Put it down!” Peter shouted and Yondu felt his eye twitch. Halfnut looked at him with an irritated scowl. 

“Make me, squirt,” Halfnut said sneering and shaking the dog to make it scream. Peter made a growling noise and launched himself up the last few steps. Yondu felt like he moved in slow motion, he saw in detail Halfnut toss the dog at Peter with a gleeful toothy grin. Peter caught the dog, but sacrificed his balance and forward momentum to do it. Halfnut kicked him, helping him fall backwards. It was all Yondu could do to get catch the idiot boy, taking the brunt of the fall and landing on his back, dazed, with Peter and the dog on top of him. He sucked as much air into his lungs as he could, then wheezed. 

“Y-you ok?” Peter had the sense to ask. 

“Made to bounce,” He grumbled. 

Thundering footsteps were his only warning to roll on his side and shove Peter as far from him as he could. A hard, sneaker clad foot, stomped onto his left shoulder and he gritted his teeth. 

“Git!” Yondu growled at Peter who scrambled away backwards, still clutching the dog. Yondu curled once more as a second stomp caught his upper arm. He grabbed it with his good arm and yanked down. Halfnut scrawny form toppled over him and Yondu grappled him. Yondu was no witless wimp, and he outweighed Halfnut by several pounds. He pinned the little pissant under him and cracked him across the cheek. It knocked Halfnut long hair out of his face and made his too-wide eyes go blank. Yondu pulled back of another solid punch, but Peter yelped in surprise. 

Yondu looked up to see Peter holding his own hand, an angry red circle on the flesh between his thumb and fingers. 

“I-it bit me,” He sounded astonished. Yondu just blinked and shook his head. 

He looked down at Halfnut who still looked dazed. 

“Damn thing hates to be touched,” He said getting off Halfnut and grabbing Peter’s arm.

He hauled the boy after him, up the stairs and practically threw him into the room. Yondu slammed the door and slid down it, thumping his head on the door. 

It had been a mostly rotten day, and the overall source of it was cowering against the far wall in his bed. Well, their bed now Yondu guessed. There was only one bed in the tiny room. One bed, one dresser, no closet, because this was a closet, and one window. Peter pulled himself up into a ball on the bed. He looked paler than he’d been all day. It made his freckles stand out more and his ginger hair look neon. His eyes jittered with nerves, but still there was this stubborn set to his jaw that Yondu found too fucking familiar. 

“How old are you anyway?” Yondu asked. Peter hitched a breath.

“Eight,” He said. 

Shit, Yondu thought. Peter had ten, maybe eleven years to deal with this shit. Granted, if he could survive the next year and a half, he’d be the only one in the house, but then what? Brad Sr. wouldn’t have anything else to distract him, and Peter was young. Yondu just closed his eyes and rocked his head side to side on the door. 

“Are you ok?” Peter asked. 

“What if I’m not? You got some magical Terran powers to make me all better?” Yondu snapped. 

Peter just frowned and curled in himself more. No he wasn’t ok, his shoulder was on fire, and the worst was yet to come. Brad Sr. wasn’t home yet, and that’s when shit was really going to suck. Two fights in one day, and now the anticipation of Brad Sr. coming home. He shivered. Had anything gone right today?

Professor Stakar, that had gone right. Yondu felt warm thinking about it. His stomach fluttered in with excitement. Assuming he could walk tomorrow, and he’d crawl if he had too, he’d be in Stakar’s class for one whole blessed hour. But what the hell was he going to do at lunch tomorrow? Would Stakar let him hide by his window still?

“What happens now?” Peter asked in a very small voice. It shook Yondu from his daydream and he locked carmine eyes on the child. That’s what he was, just a small, frightened child. Yondu wasn't sure which one of them he meant by that thought. 

“We wait for Brad Sr. to come home. The rest of what I told you stays the same.”

He looked around the messy room. It was a massive contrast to Stakar’s neat and organized office. He could clean it up some maybe? Maybe make some actual room for Peter?

“Whats Brad Sr. gonna do?” Peter asked. Yondu rolled his eyes back at the kid and gave him a patronizing look. 

“Bake cookies and cocoa and tell us bedtime stories,” Yondu said. 

“R-really?” Peter perked up.

“No idiot!” Yondu said exasperated that the kid had even thought that was possible. “He’s going to take all that out on my ass!” possibly literally, Yondu thought. 

Peter was silent a long time. Long enough for Yondu to drift a bit thinking about school, and Stakar’s class again. It was happy thought for him, and he didn’t have many, well any, of those so he was going to milk it for all it was worth. He did his best to ignore the sniffling from the bed, even after it became more evident. Then he sighed again. 

“Crying ain't gonna make it better,” He said not opening his eyes. “It’ll actually just make it worse.”

“I’m not crying.” Peter said in a tone that was definitely crying.

“You cry where they can hear or see you, and you’re good as dead,” Yondu said. “Toughen up or you’re not going to make it.”

“I’m not,” Peter whined, and hiccuped. Yondu wondered what he had ever done to deserve this. In less than four months he was going to be nineteen. He could leave then, flip Brad Sr.  and his jackass kids the bird and run off, join the smugglers and pirates in space and screw the whole planet of Xandar. 

“Why are you even here, kid?” Yondu asked to no one in particular. He was pretty convinced Brad Sr.  ’s Sky daddy hated him, and that was why.

“My mom died,” Peter sniffed. “Y-yesterday.”

Something like pity stabbed him. He cracked an eye to see Peter curled up tight on his side now, facing Yondu. Desperation on his face mixed with his tears and, yeah, fear. Fuck. 

“That’s too bad,” Yondu said. He meant it too. He felt bad, but it didn’t change anything. “Don’t let them know that either.” 

Peter just nodded, miserably. They stared at each other for a long awkward moment, then the door down stairs slammed shut, and Yondu closed his eyes and shook his head. He counted, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…

“Udonta!” Brad Sr. hollered up the stairs. “Garage! Now!” 

There was more stomping, and the sound of the kitchen door slamming. Yondu braced himself. He could hide here till Brad Sr. came up to get him. He’d done it before, made the man force him out of his room, down the stairs and into the greasy, messy garage. It almost made the bruises worth it. But this time there was a really good reason to keep Brad Sr. out of the room, it had ginger hair and wide, scared blue eyes that were fixed on him from the bed. Yondu forced himself up, and ignored the burn in his shoulder. 

“Where are you going?” Peter squeaked in a whisper. 

“To the garage idiot,” Yondu said. He pulled off his good shirt and found a dirtier one. No point in ruining a good shirt. 

“Why?” Peter was horrified. 

“Because not going is worse,” Yondu said pulling the already bloody shirt on. 

“What if he comes for me?” Peter asked, and the question was such a thing that a small scared boy would ask, that Yondu just felt his mind stutter. What if he did? He would eventually, Yondu was just putting it off. 

“I won’t let him.” Yondu said pulling the door open. “Just stay here like I told yah.” 

He closed the door softly and thumped his head on the wall beside it. He was a fucking idiot. 

 

***

 

The garage was probably his least favorite place. Not for any particular feature of the garage itself. It was typical, large four walled structure, smaller than the house, big enough for Brad Sr.’s hover-car and the junker he and Taserface were always working on. It held tools and garbage, and stored up stuff that had no place in the house. It was, as far as buildings went, inert and without malice. It was what went on in the garage that made it his least favorite place. Brad Sr. kept his hobbies outside of the house, the car, the heavy boxing bag, and his attentions to Yondu. 

Yondu was amazed at how much he had to force himself to get himself to walk down here on his own. He usually avoided this with his every fiber, made Brad Sr. work for it. Yet here he was, one ginger haired kid was all it took for him to walk all the way down here on his own. What the fuck was wrong with him? Was he really this soft?

The door to the garage was yanked open as he reached for it. Yondu froze, his hand gripping air, and looked up into the fat, wrinkled face of Brad Sr. His’ bristly black beard blended up into his greasy black hair that was pulled into a lazy man-bun. He looked like a hairy shriveled ball-sack, and the surprised lecherous grin on his face didn’t improve the look. 

“Udonta? You actually came down on your own,” He stood back and held the door wide. “Well come on in boy.” 

Yondu looked into the garage, tools were out, Brad Sr. had been working on his car. Other things were out too. Things he didn’t want to look at. Brad Sr.  laughed darkly when he saw where Yondu’s eyes were going. 

“Gotta teach you to keep your hands to yourself boy,” Brad Sr. said. “Can’t have you teaching the new kid bad habits.”

The mention of Peter reminded Yondu why he was down here. He’s only eight. Yondu said to himself. Just a kid. 

Yondu set his jaw and walked in.


	2. Fighting in School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yondu keeps sticking up for Peter, and meets the new Assistant Professor.

**School Day Blues Chapter 2**

 

**swearing, casual violence, implied child abuse, idk it’s dark-ish**

 

“Don’t look at me at breakfast,” Yondu said as he pushed Peter off the bed in the morning. “Don’t say nothing or do nothing. Just eat and go to school.” Peter was slowing down Yondu’s normal morning routine, that and the new set of bruises across his back and buttocks. He was pretty sure a few had bled, but he wasn’t checking now. If they didn’t get moving Taserface and Halfnut would be here, and that would be bad. 

“Are you going to walk me to school?” Peter asked. He’d been clingy all night. Dinner had gone as well as it could. Peter had managed to sulk quietly as the rest of them chewed through their tough as leather meat and lumpy paste potatoes. When they’d gone to bed though, he’d sniffled and kept trying to snuggle up to Yondu’s back. It hurt like a thousand needles every time the kid accidentally touched his wounds. So eventually Yondu had rolled onto his other side and just let the kid have the majority of the bed. He was going to have to work out better sleeping arrangements. 

“No, you just keep yer head down and avoid the brothers,” He said.

Youndue didn’t want to be seen with Peter, didn’t want any of them to think they were getting close, because they weren’t, and he didn’t need them to use Peter against him. He’d already spent one afternoon in the garage, he didn’t want to spend another any time soon.

Peter pouted at breakfast and pouted when Yondu walked as quickly as he could out of the house. If he could get to school without incident, he could have a decent day. He could exist until Stakar’s class and then he’d be in heaven for an hour, a full blissful hour.  He got almost all the way to the school, he could practically touch the gates, when he heard the combined laughter of Halfnut and Taserface and the whine of Peter. 

“Keep walking, idiot,” He said to himself

But the sharp crack of skin on skin stopped him cold. He rolled his eyes as he turned to march back to the boy. Peter was on his ass, Halfnut and Taserface standing on either side of him, effectually keeping him pinned in.

Yondu had a choice he realized. He could join in. He could laugh, snicker, and antagonize the child along with the two brothers. He could throw his lot in with them and let Peter be the whipping boy he was meant to be. 

Then his back stung, and his shoulder throbbed, and he knew more certainly that he’d ever known anything, he wasn’t going to do that. He couldn’t stop whatever part of him it was that made him walk up to the two brothers and clear his throat. They looked at him, measuring what he was going to do. He wondered if they had ever a piece like than in themselves, or had Brad Sr. beaten it out of them long ago? 

“Leave ‘em alone,” Yondu said regretting the words as they came out of his mouth. 

It was all they needed. They grinned like sharks. 

“Leave em alone,” Halfnut mimicked back. “What’s up Udonta? Don’t wanna share your new buddy?” 

It was important, Yondu knew, to resolve this before the brother’s friends showed up. Once the other three idiots showed up, he’d be really outnumbered and that would lead to more trouble than he could handle on his own. Peter sniffled and tried to move towards him, only to have Taserface kick out at him. It connected with Peter’s chest, and the boy collapsed on his side. 

“Damn it, Taserface,” Yondu said, and he swung hard on the wrinkly faced moron. 

Halfnut jumped him as he moved towards Taserface and began wailing on his head. Yondu grabbed Halfnut and tired to pull him off, swinging the skinny fool around and letting him knock his own brother down. Taserface tackled Yondu’s knees and they all went down into a grunting pile. Peter, displaying some  amount of brains for once, stayed as far from them as he could. 

“Break it up!” the deep baritone was unmistakable, and that penetrated Yondu’s thick skull better than any punch he’d received. 

He jerked, instantly turning towards Stakar’s voice. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the same effect on Taserface who landed a hard punch to Yondu’s nose. He swore and arched back trying to cover his newly broken face. Heavy hands reached down and began pulling and separating. When Yondu could see again, there was just Stakar, in his sharp clothes, and a tall, lanky man standing beside him looking a tad more fierce than he had a right too. 

“What the hell was going on here?” Stakar asked. 

He looked furious, and Yondu felt any chance that he was going to have a good day vanish. Damn it all he wanted was one good day, was that really to much to ask? 

A woman walked up, neatly dressed like Stakar in navy slacks and a nice button down shirt. Her long hair was hanging silkily down one side of her face, and Yondu secretly suspected that was the look Halfnut was going for most days. 

“Ogord? What’s going on?” Principal Aleta asked giving them all a scathing look. “Fighting at school?” 

“Apparently,” Stakar said, the scrawny man just continued to look disapproving. It was oddly effective. “Though why, I don’t know.”

“They tripped me, and kicked me, and Yondu told them to stop and they didn’t!” Peter rushed out in his high, child’s voice. 

He was pointing at Halfnut and Taserface and Yondu felt his chest tighten. Kid had just signed his death warrant. 

“Is that so?” Aleta looked over at the brothers and crossed her arms. 

They weren’t exactly angels on the playground. 

“My office, now.” She turned in her sensible shoes and walked away obviously expecting to be followed. 

Yondu clutched his nose to his face and looked at Stakar. The look that he got back was so complex he didn’t know what to make of it. 

“Let’s go,” Stakar said, turning to march the two brothers in front of him leaving the skinny man to guide Yondu and Peter. 

Peter, who was crying. Damn kid. 

“Here,” the scrawny man said handing Yondu a napkin he’d pulled from his pocket.  Yondu looked at the flimsy paper and then back at the man. The man shrugged. Yondu snatched the thin tissue away and pinched his bleeding nose shut.

He got a close look at the man now. Brown dress slacks, clean blue striped shirt, and a tie. A fucking tie. The  man didn’t look to be very old either, he could almost be Yondu’s age. 

“Hew da hell ard dou?” Yondu asked tilting his head forward. This wasn’t his first nosebleed, and once he got home it wouldn’t be his last. 

“Assistant Professor Obfonteri, assistant to professor Stakar,” the new man said. “You must be Udonta, Stakar's new student?”

Yondu looked at the new assistant professor like he wasn’t sure what to make of him. Then he exhaled a rush as Peter flung himself at his midsection. 

“Da fuk!” Yondu exhaled and looked down and saw the small boy clutching against him. “Awgh, awgh, git awgh!” 

Yondu pushed at the kid but he wasn't letting go. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the Lower School?”  Obfonteri asked the ginger boy. Peter shook his head in Yondu’s stomach. “He seems pretty attached.” 

“Ain't ever had his ass beat,” Yondu said pulling the tissue away, and pushing Peter away harder. “Let go of me kid, yer embarrassing yer-self.” He managed to peel Peter off and the boy sniffed. “Pull yer-self together, you want them to know they got to you?” Peter shook his head. “Suck it up then. Get yer bag and go to class.” 

He pointed at the old backpack that had been his once. Peter sniffed one more time, wiped his nose and picked up his bag.

“B-but are you ok?” he asked and Yondu rolled his eyes sky-wise. 

“Why do you keep asking me that?” Yondu said irritated. “Do I look ok?”

“That’s enough,” Obfonteri said. “Young man, get to class.” He pointed at Peter who stuck out his chin and slunk off. “You, get to the Principal office.” He pointed back at Yondu. 

“What if I said, fuck you, make me?” Yondu said grinning in his own blood. 

The Assistant Professor  didn’t blink, he just crossed his arms and look hard at Yondu. Yondu met his eyes, blue eyes too he realized, and scoffed. 

“Get moving yourself, Udonta,” Obfonteri said. 

Yondu shrugged, regretted it as his shoulder twinged, and strode off, putting as much of a strut into his walk as he could manage. 

 

***

 

“Detention for all of you,” Principal Aleta said. “Be glad I don’t expel you.” She pinned Yondu with a glare. He’d gotten to the room late and the brothers were gone.  “Be happy Stakar spoke up for you,” she said. “Or you’d be sitting in the cafeteria after school too.”

“Huh?” Yondu said cleverly. 

Obfonteri snickered beside him. Stakar looked less than amused. 

“Professor Stakar has requested that you serve your detention with him. I agreed. You could use some discipline in your life Udonta. I’m tired of you ending up in my office. I don’t like calling your guardian.”

That sunk in. He’d have hell to pay when he got home tonight. He sagged a little. 

“I’m sorry, I have to call him.” She actually sounded regretful. “Professors, can you make sure Udonta makes it to his classes?” 

“Yes,” Stakar walked up to Yondu and laid a hand on Yondu’s shoulder. 

Yondu winced. Stakar pulled back. 

“Come on, come back to my office first,” Stakar led the way and Yondu followed behind, his mind racing trying to fit too many conflicting thoughts in one space. He was going to get his ass handed to him in the worst way when he got home tonight, but until then, he got to got back to Stakar’s office. He didn’t know what to feel, and his writhing  stomach wasn’t being much help. He caught Obfonteri giving him a measuring glare with his gray-blue eyes and remembered he was supposed to be looking tough. The smirk Obfonteri gave him when he pulled himself upright didn’t look like he was  intimidated at all. 

 

***

 

Stakar’s office was as organized as the day before. He gestured for Yondu to sit down and Obfonteri went to a closet to rummage around. Yondu sat slowly, muscles starting to stiffen from their constant abuse lately. Stakar didn’t miss that either. 

“Whats going on?” Stakar asked bluntly. Yondu looked up shocked. 

“Waddya mean?” Yondu asked. 

Stakar arched an eyebrow and just leaned on his desk. Yondu felt a flush creep up his neck. 

“Nothing,” Yondu said. 

“Nothing gave you a black eye yesterday?”  Stakar asked. 

Yondu looked down and away. He didn’t want this kind of attention, not from anyone, especially not Stakar. 

“Yondu, I can’t help you if you don’t say something.” He sounded mournful.

Yondu peeked a look at the regal man. Or at least he looked regal to Yondu. Broad and built, dark hair and golden olive skin, eyes so dark they were almost black, with tiny little pinpricks of light in them, like stars. Why would he even notice something like that he wondered? And why did thinking of all that make him suddenly need to pee?

He was thankfully distracted by a fresh shirt being handed to him by the comparably scruffy Obfonteri. The man was all pale skin, wiry looking hair, and long limbs. He was nearly the exact opposite of Stakar.

“Go get clean up,” Stakar said, shifting against the desk. “Obfonteri, show him where the restroom is, then come back here. I’ll write you a pass.” 

The lanky man gestured for Yondu to follow him and Yondu did, looking dumbly at the shirt. 

“This ain't gonna fit,” Yondu said as they walked to the restroom. Most shirts made for the students didn’t. He was too broad in the shoulders. 

“It’s one of the professor’s,” Obfonteri said off handed, opening the restroom door for Yondu. 

Yondu paused on the threshold looking at the dark colored fabric in his hands. The professor had given him a shirt? One of his own shirts. 

“I,” Yondu’s brain locked up. 

“Just go change, Udonta.” Obfonteri pushed Yondu’s into the bathroom, and though it wasn’t a hard push, it lit his back up. Yondu hissed, arching his back in pain and Obfonteri jerked back startled. “What the fuck?” 

Yondu didn’t have time to stop him. Obfonteri just lifted his shirt and looked. Yondu froze at first. Even the kid hadn’t seen these marks, and not this close up.

“Git off!” Yondu spun, swinging out and connecting with Obfonteri’s head with a solid backhand. 

That should have laid the man out, Yondu had knocked Brad Sr. down with similar. Obfonteri looked dazed, but still stood. He worked his jaw a moment and then blinked the focus back into his eyes. 

“Ok, I shouldn’t have done that,” He said smoothing his hair back into a stubby mohawk. “But you smack me like that again and I’m hitting back. You ain't no minor.”

Yondu blinked in utter surprise. He registered that his hand actually hurt, he looked down and sure enough, he had an angry red mark where he’d connected. Obfonteri just watched him a long moment then shook his head. 

“Where’d you get those?” Obfonteri asked. Yondu closed down and turned away, 

“Just keep yer hands off me, perv. I ain't a minor,” Yondu said tossing the words back at the Assistant Professor.

“Wouldn’t make me perv then, would it,” Obfonteri said, but Yondu ignored him. 

He went to the faucet and rinsed off his face, then patted it dry gingerly with a paper-towel before slipping into a stall to change his shirt. He flipped the old one over the stall door and silently wondered if he even had any school shirts without blood on them now. He held the dark colored golf shirt up, looking at it and rubbing the soft fabric between his fingers. He pulled it on and inhaled as he did so, pretending he could smell a musk that wasn’t his own. Then he settled the soft dark fabric over his torso, it felt wonderful, like soft large hands holding him. 

That thought gave him a jerk in his dangling bits. Which in turn made his mind race, what the hell was he thinking? Stakar had to be the same age as Brad Sr.

“You die in there?” Obfonteri asked knocking on the door. Yondu snapped back reality. 

“Fuck off,” He said trying to pack away his troubling thoughts. 

“You really need to be more respectful to me, I am a teacher you know,” Obfonteri said. 

“Assistant Professor,” Yondu said coming out of the stall with a smirk. Obfonteri rolled his sterling blue eyes. 

“Just keep telling yer-self that,” Obfonteri said.” Let's get back to Stakar’s office now.” 

Yondu followed Obfonteri without protest and felt a strange rush of excitement when he went into the office. Stakar looked up from his personal unit and held up a piece of paper. Yondu went and reached for it. Stakar held the small slip, not letting go when Yondu tugged lightly.

“You may as well just come here for your lunch hour too,” He said with a tilt to his head. Yondu felt his breath hitch when his eyes met Stakar’s. 

“Professor?” did he hear that right. He was invited to lunch, in Stakar’s office?

“Unless you want to sit under a tree again?” Stakar asked. Yondu shook his head. “Fine, I’ll have Obfonteri check in on your foster brother.”

“Foster brother?” Yondu asked puzzled, why would Stakar care about Brad or Gary?

“Peter Quill?” Stakar reminded him, arching his bushy brows. “You seem pretty attached to him.”

“Kids a pain in my ass,” Yondu said. Stakar smirked. 

“I’ll bet. Get to class now, Udonta.” Stakar dismissed him. 

Yondu nodded and took his slip of paper and all but floated to his next class. 

 

Yondu slowly sauntered to lunch. He didn’t want to seem too eager to be in the professor’s office. Even though his heart was pounding and he felt like his stomach was going to tie him into a knot. He had to keep himself from smiling, as he’d been doing off and on all morning. His classmates were looking at him like he was crazy, and he guessed he was. Crazy with happiness. He even caught himself humming once. Fuck, that wasn’t going to do. He had an image to uphold. 

So when lunch rolled around, he jumped out of his seat and strolled as slowly as he could manage to Stakar’s office. Once there he just stood awkwardly. What now? Knock on the door? Just go in? 

“Just gonna stand there and jerk off, or you gonna knock?” Obfonteri said from behind him, and Yondu started to turn, his fist balled up. “Remember what I said.”

Obfonteri’s voice was low and unamused. Yondu relaxed just a tad. He didn’t want to ruin Stakar’s shirt. Obfonteri reached around him and opened the door, Stakar looked up at the interruption.  

“I wondered how long you were going to stand out there,” He said gesturing them both in. “Kraglin did you properly meet Yondu Udonta yet?” 

“Basically,” Obfonteri said. 

“Kraglin, what kind of name it that?” Yondu said without stopping himself. 

Obfonteri just looked him over. 

“Same kind of name as Yondu I suppose,” Obfonteri said. Yondu narrowed his eyes at the lanky man who had him by a foot. He wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was easily as old as Kraglin, and he was confident he could take him in fight, stone head or not. Still, the man was a teacher, Assistant Professor, he reminded himself, did that matter?

“Be nice both of you,” Stakar said steepling his fingers on his desk, but he was smirking when he said it.

The two of them looked sheepish and then Obfonteri sat down in one of the curved metal chairs. He took out a Thermos from his lunch sack and unscrewed the lid. Hot savory smelling liquid poured out and splashed as little bits of vegetables and meat came out with it. 

Yondu looked at Stakar for the first time and saw the man had a sandwich out on an unfolded napkin. He’d already eating a neatly cut triangle of it. 

“Sit down, Udonta, eat.” Stakar gestures at the other chair. 

Yondu sat, but he had nothing to eat, he never did, so he just hitched one of his legs up and relaxed back into the chair. It was a surprisingly comfortable chair for one made out of shaped metal. The two men shared a glance and then Obfonteri slurped his soup while Stakar tried to make sense of Yondu. 

“You uh, didn’t bring a lunch today?” He asked.

Yondu shrugged. “Never do.” 

Brad Sr. didn’t make lunches for any of the boys and he only gave money to Taserface and Halfnut. He could tell this was making Stakar uncomfortable, but he didn’t care overmuch. He was used to it.

“Right,” Stakar gave Obfonteri another look, but Obfonteri only shrugged and slurped his soup. Stakar folded his napkin over his sandwich and set it aside. “So, Obfonteri checked on your brother.”

“Ain't my brother,” Yondu said and Stakar nodded. 

“You ward then?” Stakar said with another smirk. 

“My what?” Yondu asked. He was really hoping Stakar wasn’t making fun of him. 

“A younger individual you take care of,” Obfonteri said. “For example, starting fights over.”

Yondu shot Obfonteri a glare and crossed his arms. That pretty much summed up his last two days.

“Weren’t saving him neither,” He lied. 

“You just like getting the shit kicked out of you?” Obfonteri asked. Yondu glared even more.

“Wanna give me a go and find out?” Yondu leaned forward and Obfonteri matched him. 

“Boys,” Stakar said softly and the two of them looked at him like he’d shouted.

“He started it,” Yondu said. Stakar actually laughed. 

“Assistant Professor  Obfonteri shouldn’t be goading students,” Stakar said and Yondu looked pleased. “And students shouldn’t be picking fights with teachers.As I was saying, Obfonteri looked in on Peter, and he seems to be doing alright. I was wondering if you thought it was a good idea to send him home on his own today?”

A brief moment of panic washed over Yondu. He hadn’t thought that far yet. If Peter went home alone, even with Halfnut and Taserface gone, Brad Sr. would be there, and he’d have Peter all to himself. 

“No,” Yondu said, his mouth dry and his heart jumping. 

He hadn’t ruined two shirts in two days to let the kid get hurt now. Stakar nodded as if he expected this answer. 

“I’m going to have Obfonteri look after him while you serve detention,” Stakar said. 

“Wait, what?” Obfonteri said, spilling a tiny bit of soup on his shirt. He swore and dabbed at it. “Crap.” 

He stood, poured the rest of his soup  back into the Thermos and screwed the lid on. 

“Be back,” he said and left for the bathroom. Yondu watched the lanky man go. 

“How old is he?” Yondu wondered out loud. 

“Twenty,” Stakar said. “Top of his graduating class. He’s a rising star in the department, and he’s about as quick tempered as you are.”

“Twenty?” Yondu repeated. He didn’t give two shits how smart the guy was.  Obfonteri was just slightly older than Yondu, which was close enough  in his opinion. It made him smirk. He turned his attention to Stakar, somewhat satisfied with all this new information about Obfonteri.  “What kind of detention am I going to do? You gonna have me write sentences?” 

Stakar smiled and steepled his fingers. 

“I’m sure we can find something more fitting than that,” Stakar said. “The Principal and I don’t see eye to eye on this one. Punishment is for when you’ve done something wrong. The way I see it, you were trying to protect Peter.”

“Won’t matter in the long run,” Yondu said thinking of what was going to be waiting for him when he got home, his new smile faltering. The garage was getting full use this week. 

Stakar's face darkened at Yondu’s words. 

“Obfonteri told me about your back, Udonta,” Stakar said. Yondu went very still. They were back to the thing he didn’t want to talk about again. “Tell me something, I can help you.”

“Ain't nothing to tell,” Yondu looked way and crossed his arms. 

There was too much to tell and Stakar couldn’t help any of it anyway. Besides, he didn’t want Stakar's pity, he just wanted to sit here and enjoy lunch, hear Stakar’s stories, and not have to think about home for a while. Stakar would only be repulsed at how weak Yondu really was, how easily he gave in. 

“Would you say that if it was Peter who had marks on his back too?” Stakar asked. 

Yondu gave Stakar a hard, unfriendly look, he was losing his humor with this line of questioning. Stakar returned the glare, his dark eyes sparkling with stars. 

“You don’t have a problem meeting my gaze when you’re angry,” Stakar observed. “That’s good to know.” 

Yondu blushed, and dropped his gaze, his stomach fluttering. Stakar chuckled and was about to say something when Obfonteri came back in. Stakar shuffled papers as Obfonteri flickered his gaze between the two of them. He said nothing, and merely opened his Thermos and drank his soup.  

“Well, as this is the only prep period I get,” Stakar said smoothly, “And Obfonteri is new this week. Let’s review the class syllabus. Udonta, you can listen in if you want.”

“Sure,” Yondu said, slightly glad to not be tossed out. 

The two professors chatted for the rest of the lunch period. Plans were made for Obfonteri to start teaching Stakar’s classes, but to Yondu’s relief, not the class that Yondu would be in. It wasn’t exactly stimulating, but it was slightly fascinating to see how the teachers went about planning and prepping for their classes. Despite all that, Yondu found himself drifting off. The soft tones of the two professors and the calm surroundings of the office, and the lack of sleep from the night before, and he was nodding off before he realized it. 

 

“Yondu,” Stakar was saying his name. 

Yondu was dreaming. Stakar with his heavy face, his midnight hair and matching eyes. Stakar’s lips were saying Yondu’s name, into his ear. 

“Yondu,” a hand shook him on his shoulder and that set off his internal alarms. 

He jerked awake and almost fell out of his chair. Stakar was there though, holding Yondu upright in the chair. “I wondered if you’d wake up swinging or not,” Stakar said. Yondu blinked. 

“Wha?” He looked around getting his bearings. 

He was in Stakar’s office. Obfonteri was gone and the room lights were off, but the light from the window illuminated the room nicely. The soft light showed off the subtle curves in Stakar's face and highlighted those lips that Yondu had just been dreaming about. Maybe he still was, he figured he’d test it. 

Yondu started to move in a little closer, shortening the distance between him and those tantalizing lips, and Stakar didn’t move away. Yup, still dreaming then. 

Well, if he was dreaming, why be so shy? Yondu leaned all the way forward, stopping when his lips pressed against Stakar’s. He was surprised at how full they were, how warm. They were subtlety moist, like Stakar had licked them before leaning down. Yondu was quite impressed with his own imagination. He even felt the wet slid of his tongue connecting with those full lips, sliding past them to feel the flat ridges of Stakar’s teeth, exploring the warm wet beyond. One of them moaned. 

Then the dream ended suddenly when Stakar shoved Yondu back with both hands. The shock of the hard back of the chair against his sensitive back shook off any lingering sleepiness. He swore,arched and gripped the arms holding him away from what had actually been Stakar. Realization hit him like a fist and he wished he could vanish from the room like smoke. He wanted to be anywhere else right now, anywhere other than being held down by Stakar as what could only be described as lighting flashed in the professor's eyes. 

“I didn’t mean it!” Yondu said squirming trying to break Stakar’s grip, fuck the guy was strong. “I was asleep! I didn’t realize it was you!” he was actually pleading, he heard the desperation in his own voice. “I’ll leave! Just let me go!” 

Stakar stood up fast, letting go of Yondu, his face dark and unreadable, his eyes still flashing. The sudden absence of Stakar’s hands made him feel cold, and the distance that Stakar put between them spoke silent volumes. Yondu stood up and ran for the door. 

“Udonta!” Stakar’s voice struck out freezing Yondu in the doorway. “Class is in fifteen minutes, don’t be late.” 

Yondu risked one confused look over his shoulder, but the professor was looking out his own window running his thick hand through his hair. Yondu swallowed and left, resting just outside the door, his head thumping the stone wall beside it. He heard a loud bang in the room, like a good sized foot connecting with an unfortunate desk, but Yondu didn't risk going back. Instead he ran for the first bathroom he could think of, passing Obfonteri as he went. 

“Hey, Udonta, class starts in like ten minutes, where are you going?” 

Yondu ignored the Assistant Professor. He needed a moment, he need to sort out his brain, he needed to stop freaking out! He slammed into the restroom and hid in the largest stall on the end. He sat down and rubbed his face with his hands. 

He was aroused, and not just a little, likeawkward-boner-that-wasn’t-going-anywhere-any-time-soon aroused and he was scared as hell. He fucked up, he fucked up huge, and Stakar still wanted him in class in a few, and he wasn’t supposed to be late.

“Fuck!” He banged his fist in the wall, and marveled at how much that felt like Obfonteri skull. 

He was turned on by Stakar, who was the same age as Brad Sr.! That was the only similarity, wasn’t it? Stakar couldn’t be like Brad Sr. could he? And why him? Why did he have to have this boner over Stakar? Shit if Taserface or Halfnut found out, if Brad Sr. found out…

He let his head fall between his knees and he covered his head with his hands, rubbing the long vertical scar that ran the length of his spine and up the back of his head, hitting the weird Kree alloy implant that bisected his skull. He didn’t know why he had it or why the Kree ‘doctor’ at the home had wanted his crest. All he knew was sometimes, reminding himself he’d had a crest helped him calm down. He needed that calm now.

“You in there Udonta?” Obfonteri called out. 

Yondu just groaned. He did not want to deal with the lanky jerk. 

“Hey,” Obfonteri’s voice got close to the stall Yondu was in. “Class is starting soon. You don’t want to be late.”

Obfonteri was correct, he didn’t want to be late. Yondu sucked in a long slow breath and let it out. He repeated it two more times and then sat up, getting to his feet. He opened the stall door and Obfonteri stood there like an irritated scarecrow. 

“You gonna be sick or something?” Obfonteri asked. Yondu worked up his irritation at Obfonteri. He needed it to cover his embarrassment. He grabbed his crotch and made a show of adjusting himself. 

“Just taking care of business,” He said with an overconfident smirk that he didn’t feel at all. Obfonteri looked from Yondu’s crotch this his face and shook his head. 

“Whatever. Class is starting, get your ass in gear.” Obfonteri walked out and Yondu followed him, his grin fading as he did so. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader!
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.


	3. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yondu has detention and makes a bad life decision.

**School Day Blues Chapter 3**

 

**swearing, casual violence, implied child abuse, sex,  idk it’s dark-ish**

 

The thing that Yondu had been waiting for since lunch yesterday was happening, and it was as wonderful as he had dreamed. True, Stakar didn’t look in his general direction, at all, but his lecture was just as wonderful as he had hoped. In the classroom, Stakar was in his element. He stalked the front of the class like a general before his men. His posture was worthy of any command and his dark eyes twinkled when he got to the really good parts of the lecture. Yondu watched it all; every step, every sweep of his hand, every tick on his face, every word written on the white-board. Yondu memorized everything, he was good at that, better memorize things then leave evidence around. 

When class was over though, he did his best to scoot out with the rest of the students and get out of Stakar’s sight. In one more hour, he had detention, and that was going to be awkward at best. He muddled his way through his Xandarian lessons but he was so distracted that distraction turned into knots that he forgot to keep out of Taserface way in the hall after class. 

The wrinkled asshole slammed Yondu in to the lockers as he passed. He gestured from his eye to Yondu’s with his fingers, and Yondu flipped him off. Yah, yah, Taserface, was going to try and kick his ass later, what else was new? Honestly the familiarness of that actually was centering, and Yondu milled his way to Stakar’s office for the third time that day. He moped outside the door again, steeling his nerves, then he knocked. 

“Come in,” Stakar ordered, and Yondu slunk into the room. Stakar watched him move around the office and Yondu thought twice about sitting in the chair. 

“Sit down, Yondu.” Stakar said. Yondu sat, and didn’t look at the professor. “Obfonteri  is keeping Peter company. So we have an hour to work on what I should do with you exactly.” 

Stakar stood and paced his office, his eyes on Yondu.

“Like make me write sentences?” Yondu smirked.   _ I will not kiss my teacher, I will not kiss my teacher _ . 

“Like how the hell I’m supposed to help you if you won't let me.” Stakar replied. 

Yondu looked up, why did he keep bringing this up?

“I don’t want yer help,” Yondu said and Stakar nodded. 

“That’s why you need it,” Stakar said. “What happened earlier, I, shouldn’t have let it happen. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting to help you.”

“I don’t need-” Yondu began and Stakar made a disgusted noise. 

“When I send you home tonight, what’s going to happen to you?” Stakar pushed off his desk to loom over Yondu. “Tell me, now!”

Yondu blinked and swallowed. 

“I’ll go to my room, I’ll go to bed,” Yondu said as his mind played over the actual events. He’ll get into  a fight with Taserface on the way home and he’ll try to get Peter to safety. Then he’d probably have to go spend time with Brad Sr. in the garage, he’ll eat something like nothing happened, and he’ll probably sleep on the floor so Peter could have the bed. 

“Stop lying to me, Yondu,” Stakar said as if he’d read Yondu’s thoughts. “Tell me any of it and I can pull you away from him, I can pull you and Peter away, to safety.”

“Any of it?” Yondu repeated.“Tonight, can you take Peter tonight?”

Was it really that easy?

A complicated look passed over Stakar’s face and his eyes flashed. He stood up straight and stroked his hair. 

“Is that your key?” Stakar said looking sideways at Yondu. “You want to help Peter? Then yes, I’ll take Peter tonight. But you have to tell me what’s going on, or I can’t do anything.”

“I,” Yondu didn't’ even know where to start really. What do you say when you’ve kept it all secret for eleven years? “Where will you take him?”

Stakar sighed in apparent frustration. 

“The authorities  won’t be happy about it, but if I had evidence, I could take you both to my home for the night.”

“For the night?” Yondu repeated seeing the flaw in the plan already. “Then we’d both be handed over to child services again, and they’d send us into the system again. I might get out cause I’m too old really, but Peter would just end up somewhere else.” His tone was flat, he knew how this would work. He knew the stories. 

“I will work to keep that from happening,” Stakar said and Yondu heard the empty promise in it. 

It was the way way he told Peter that he’d keep him safe. He knew the day would come when he couldn’t, and it would come sooner than later, but it got the kid to sleep last night didn’t it?

“I’m not a child,” Yondu said standing up, he didn’t wanted to be here anymore. “I know you’re lying even if you don’t.” 

“I’m not lying, Yondu,” Stakar walked to block the door. “I’m serious. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

“Yah,” Yondu was in Stakar’s face again. He didn’t like the look he was getting, it looked like pity, and he didn’t need that. 

“How exactly are you gonna do that? He’ll pull the same shit he’s pulled before and get me back. He’ll keep Peter too and,” Yondu swallowed back what he was going to say. 

“He’ll what Yondu?” Stakar touched Yondu’s shoulder again, gently, like he was made of glass. It pissed him off. Yondu shrugged him off. This was the worst detention ever. 

“Did you plan this?” Yondu said cold and wounded. “You were just gonna trap me in here till I spilled my guts? You’re gonna have to do a lot more than this. Fuck, you don’t even have the balls to do what he’s done.” 

Stakar clasped Yondu’s face in his big hands, lighting flashing in his endless eyes again, then Yondu felt those soft full lips on his again. 

He gripped Stakar's arms, but there was no breaking his grip, even if it didn’t hurt. But it did, it hurt something inside him that wanted this so badly. He pushed back against Stakar, pushing him against the door. They were pretty much the same height, and Yondu used that advantage. He pressed his full body along Stakar’s and just held him there, tasting Stakar fully, sliding a hand up his arm and into that marvelous black hair, locking Stakar in place. 

It was Stakar that moaned. His own hands tracing Yondu’s face and shoulders, slipping around to slide down his side and pull his hips closer. The feel of what could only be Stakar’s arousal pushing against his own made Yondu gasp and break the kiss. He pulled back, and Stakar made a soft wistful noise. Yondu’s eyes flickered over Stakar’s face. What was he doing? How had he gotten to this place, and why the fuck wasn’t he trying to get away? 

“We can stop, if you want,” Stakar said, and just those words made everything better. 

There was a dam in him that burst, and Yondu gave a little sob, taking Stakar’s mouth again. He was clumsy this time, trying to take too much, do too much. Stakar chuckled softly and took Yondu’s hands in his own, guiding one to his hip, and the other to his waist. Stakar took over the kiss too, tiling his head and guiding Yondu by example. It become softer, deeper, more open. 

When Stakar parted from him, it was to trail kisses and nips down Yondu’s chin to his neck then his shoulder. Yondu groaned and held Stakar against him. Stakar’s hands slipped under the wonderfully soft shirt, and Yondu hissed a breath through his teeth. Stakar stopped, his finger lightly touching Yondu’s ribs. He pulled back to see where he’d hurt Yondu and Yondu pushed him against the door again. 

“’S’okay,” Yondu said his own mouth sliding over Stakar’s throat. “Don’t stop, I ain't breakable.” 

Stakar chuckled softly, and gently began exploring Yondu via touch. Yondu felt it, each bump of a scar, each sting of a welt, the hesitant prodding of a still raw wound. It felt like nothing he’d ever thought it could, not pain, not exactly. Something more that made him writhe, press his professor against the door, and moan for more. 

Stakar shuddered out a breath against Yondu’s shoulder. 

“Yondu,” Stakar said softly. 

Yondu opened his eyes and looked at his professor. He felt dazed and warm all over. 

“We need to stop, I,” Stakar swallowed. “I don’t want to do this, here.” He said, but his eyes said something completely different, if Yondu was learning to read those exiting flashes better. 

“Why not?” Yondu grinned, his jagged teeth giving his grin a sinister edge. “You gonna lure me back to yer place with promises of more?”

Stakar winced and Yondu knew there was hint of truth to that. He chuckled, he didn’t actually care right now. He figured if Stakar did just that, he’d probably tell him anything he needed to hear to make it happen. 

“You are,” Stakar was looking for a word. 

“A pain in the ass?” Yondu asked. Stakar chuckled. 

“Alright,” Stakar tired to extract himself from Yondu, and Yondu tightened his grip. Stakar might have him in the strength department, but he was willing to wager Stakar wouldn’t hurt him, and Yondu didn’t want to let go yet. Stakar blinked when he couldn’t get away easily. 

“Yondu,” he tried his stern voice, and Yondu grinned. 

This had to be the first time he’d actually wanted this, the first time he’d ever liked being touched, and he wasn’t ready to be done. Stakar ‘s lips turned up at the corners. 

“Fine, what do you want?” 

“Me?” Yondu said, he grinned but the question really did confuse him. 

He wanted to continue. He wanted to kiss Stakar again and never stop, he wanted his damn back not to sting so he could offer himself properly. But there was more than one way to do this, as Brad Sr. had taught him. He shook himself slightly. No,don’t think about that of that bastard. 

Yondu slowly began to lower himself to his knees. Stakar moaned and ran a hand gently over Yondu’s head and the crimson implant. The soft touch caught Yondu off guard and he gasped, closing his eyes and bracing against the door. Stakar jerked his hand back again. 

“I hurt you,” He said. 

“Nuh-uh,” Yondu said, grabbing Stakar’s wrist and guiding the hand back. “Do it again.” 

Stakar hesitated, but repeated the stroke. Yondu sighed and trembled laying his head against Stakar’s hip. 

“Never felt good before,” He sighed his mouth right beside the impressive bulge in Stakar’s pants. 

Yondu skid a hand up Stakar’s pant leg and began to test the firmness of the bulge. Stakar leaned his hips forward, sighing under the petting. But when Yondu began to unzip him, Stakar stopped him. 

“No,” he held Yondu’s wrist and pulled Yondu to his feet. 

Stakar led him over to the chair he’d fallen asleep in and guided him back down. Stakar said nothing else, just reversed their positions. Yondu swallowed as Stakar’s head leveled with his crotch. He sucked in air as Stakar unzipped his pants and gently massaged his needy member. Stakar unveiled Yondu’s cock and made a pleased sound as he stroked Yondu’s length. 

Stakar took a long moment to study the shape and girth of Yondu’s cock, as if judging if he could actually get it into his mouth. Yondu wasn’t that large, and he didn’t deviate to much from ‘standard male anatomy’. But the fleshy finger wide ridges on the underside of his cock could swell a bit and might be a little intimidating he supposed. Stakar ran his thumb down all four in agonizingly slow motion. Each one pulsed as his thumb passed over it. Stakar did it again, in reverse, and Yondu whimpered. 

“Have you ever been pleasured like this before?” Stakar asked, and there was an edge of seriousness that made Yondu look down at him. 

“N-no,” He’d never bothered with dating. It was too much trouble and he didn’t have the patience for it. Besides, with the was Brad Sr. had screwed him up... No! Yondu scolded himself. He wasn’t going to think of him. Stakar didn’t seem to noticed though. He slid his thumb back over Yondu’s ridges again making him jerk his hips forward. 

“Good,” Stakar said in a way that made things in Yondu yearn. 

He pressed his lips to Yondu’s firm head, slowly sliding his lips around the tender tip, flicking his tongue over it every so often. Yondu griped the chair as Stakar began to work his way down slowly, getting used to the way the ridges were going to fit in his mouth. He  fought the urge to thrust up, and Stakar smiled when he got the fourth and final ridge in his mouth. His face flush with Yondu’s groin. Yondu threw his head back feeling Stakar’s mouth work to hold him in place.

“S-Stakar,” Yondu;s voice was gravely as he fought to keep words in his head. 

This was amazing. Yondu shivered as Stakar slid up his shaft, slurping as each ridge popped around his lips. He kept just the head in his mouth and looked up at Yondu. Stakar reached and pulled one of Yondu’s white knuckled hands off the chair arm rests and placed I on his head. Yondu swallowed again, meeting Stakar's eyes, getting the hint. He fisted Stakar’s marvelously soft hair and began to guide the man down his shaft again. 

“D-don’t let me hurt y-you,” Yondu said. 

He’d never done this before, never even thought it would happen, and now it was a fight to keep his eagerness to pump into Stakar’s mouth to a comfortable limit for Stakar. 

Stakar just closed his eyes and added his own enthusiasm to Yondu’s gentle guidance. Yondu threw his head back again, his other hand wrapping against the back of Stakar’s neck. His thighs trembled as he made shallow little jerks into Stakar's wet mouth, the heat of Stakar’s breath on his shaft and hairless groin making him feel like he was melting. He rolled his head to the side and his eyes opened lazily to gaze at nothing in particular. He felt something building in him, something a lot like the orgasm he’d crank out of himself when he got a quiet moment at night. Only this was building slowly, like a growing need to sneeze. He began to buck harder, holding Stakar’s head steady as he began to work himself in and out of the Professor’s mouth. 

It was then that he realized he wasn’t staring at nothing. He was staring at a pair of clear blue eyes, the color of cold winter days, and those eyes were locked on his own. It was Obfonteri , he could see the man’s face in the long slotted window in the door. He was watching, watching Stakar suck him off, watching Yondu’s building climax. If the raw look on Obfonteri  face was any indicator, he was enjoying it too. Yondu grinned straight into  Obfonteri  face, and turned his gaze back to Stakar. Obfonteri  wanted a show, he was about to get one. 

“S-Stakar, I, I’m gonna cum,” He wasn’t positive he should do that in Stakar’s mouth, but Stakar slid his hands under Yondu’s ass and held on in a vice like grip, giving a little growl as he again  took Yondu’s whole length in his mouth. 

“F-fuck,” Yondu exhaled as he fell over the edge. His mind went blank and he felt like he was floating, warm and satisfied, boneless and content. 

It took a full minute before he felt Stakar working his way off his cock, his mouth working to clean Yondu’s shaft as he slid it out. Every swipe of his tongue making Yondu shudder in little aftershocks. Stakar swallowed and licked his lips, his eyes locked on Yondu. Yondu wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do at this point, but to be fair, he was only operating on half a brain right now anyway. He just grinned like a dope and stroked Stakar’s awesome hair again. Stakar closed his eyes and leaned into Yondu’s hand.  He caught it and nuzzled against it. 

“You, ah, want me to return the favor now, Professor?” Yondu asked trying for bravado, and getting breathy instead. 

“No need,” He said with a smirk. He lifted his own hand and an iridescent glaze shimmered on it. Yondu must have been out of it if he hadn’t noticed the professor jerking himself off while giving him a blow-job. 

“Fuck,” Yondu just stared, he had not expected to be so turned on by the sight of that, but there it was. He bit his lip and tried not to look like a fool.

“You want to taste?” Stakar asked, watching Yondu and rubbing his fingers slowly together. Yondu’s eyes went wide, and he managed to nod. He wasn’t sure his words would work right now. Stakar smirked and bought his hand to Yondu’s mouth, and Yondu griped his wrist.

Yondu knew how to do this, and made a show out of gently taking one finger at a time slowly into his mouth, holding it with his lips and teeth, and stroking git with his tongue as he cleaned it off. It was easy to show pleasure this time, this time he wanted it. He watched Stakar watch him, and the lusty blush that filled Stakar’s face made Yondu tease his fingertips with little nips and licks before moving to the next digit. It was easy to do this he found. Stakar tasted slightly of citrus, and the hot, lusty look of Stakar’s half-lidded eye made Yondu’s stomach do flips. 

Stakar’s hand flexed in Yondu’s grip as he sucked Stakar’s thumb, and grabbed onto his jaw. It immobilized him, and Stakar leaned forward on his knees taking Yondu’s mouth. His thumb slid in and out of Yondu’s mouth as Stakar kissed him, then was replaced with Stakar’s tongue. 

Yondu felt himself stir again, and gripped Stakar's ass, pulling him close. Vaguely he wondered if Obfonteri was still watching, and vaguely he hoped the pervert enjoyed it.  

Stakar pulled away from the kiss, biting Yondu’s lip as he pulled away. 

“Come with me,” Stakar said. Yondu grinned. 

“I thought I had.” Stakar sighed and bumped his head against Yondu’s forehead. 

He knew what the Professor meant, but he just wasn’t sure he could do the thing that was needed to make it happen. When Yondu continued to be silent, Stakar’s brow furrowed and the man pushed up to his feet, tucking himself away. Apparently their conversation wasn’t over yet. Even though his sex hazed brain Yondu felt irritated. He put himself away and got out of the chair, again. 

“Detention is over,” Yondu said, challenging Stakar to say otherwise with a glare.

If he didn’t leave now, Stakar would wear him down. It wouldn’t take a whole lot more, either, because even now all Yondu really wanted was to touch the Professor again. If Stakar was smart, he’d use that against him, promise him more, at home, his home. 

But either Stakar wasn’t so smart, or he just didn’t have that in him. Both thoughts pissed Yondu off, he just wanted someone else to make the final decision for him. With a frustrated growl, he turned, and checking to make sure Obfonteri  wasn’t still peeping outside the door, he stormed out. Stakar didn’t try to stop him this time either.

 

***

 

Yondu slammed the office door and Stakar actually winced. He knew he should do something, chase after him, threaten his with something, or just offer more. But all that amounted to manipulation and somehow it didn’t seem right. Frustrated Stakar ran both his hands through his hair, scratching his scalp and pulling his locks. 

What the hell was he even doing? Students were off limits! He knew that, he lived that, always. Then that fascinating blue boy showed up and all his rules and all his control started to go wobbly in the middle. 

It didn’t help that Yondu was technically, if not legally an adult. It fucked with his rules, Yondu was of age and yet still a student. A and not A. He knew that was Brad Sr. doing, Yondu had started at the Lower school a year behind his age-mates, something to do with the inadequate education he’d received a the now Defunct Kree Children’s Home for Troubled Boys. There wasn’t a lot in Yondu’s file about that, and Stakar would know, he had the damn thing memorized. 

Yondu had hit his radar late last year, when Stakar had seen him walking on campus. He’d mistaken Yondu for a young teacher and had been worriedly upset by the stab of disappointment when he’d learned Yondu was a student. ‘Student’s are children, they are off limits’ he chanted mentally to himself. 

He’d become more worried when he found himself continually ‘accidentally’ being wherever Yondu was on campus. He’d watched the youth get into fights with Gary and Brad Jr. and their motley group of morons. They all had ridiculous names that only children found entertaining. Taserface, Halfnut, Skrote, and so on. He’d watched Yondu start fights with the group as well, more than once to deflect their attention away from smaller victims. Stakar was never entirely sure if Yondu knew what he was doing or was just acting on instinct. 

But when he began to notice that not all of Yondu’s bruises and mysterious limping could be explained by schoolyard fighting, Stakar began to realize something more was going on. He dug out Yondu’s file and, though low on information, it was enough for him to start to form a picture. 

He’d been thrilled to see Yondu sneaking into the  bushes early at the beginning of last semester. He’d just happened to be at the right angle in his office, and noticed the youth ducking under the perfect canopy of the evergreen outside the window. When he went to see, he found the tree and the half-heartily trimmed bushes created a blind, and Yondu must have been using it to hide during his lunch breaks. 

Stakar had formed a loose plan then, convincing himself he was doing this to help Yondu. He began to open his window on his own lunch breaks. Rehearsing his classes in his office, instead of the empty class like he normally did. He learned where he could stand to  watch Yondu sneak in and out of the bushes, and not be seen. He got a jolt each time he saw the youth wander this way, and and an even more troubling one when Yondu would stop sometimes to glance in the window from a distance. The wistful expression on his cerulean face twisted a knife in Stakar’s gut. 

Stakar began giving new lectures in his office, new material he’s never used in class, nor really had any intention too. He was testing stuff out, he told himself, not simply telling tails for Yondu’s benefit. He also began purposefully being where Yondu was in the mornings and the after school hours. Taking shifts to greet the students as the came into school and make sure they left in an orderly fashion. He’d been trying desperately to figure out how to get Yondu into his class, the better to keep an eye on him, Stakar told himself. He’d been thrilled when the kid, Peter, had caused the outburst that allowed Stakar to finally call the youth in. 

It had all been going fine, just like he’d sort of planned, until he’d been an idiot and let the boy sleep in his office though lunch and his next class. No, that hadn’t been the screw up. Letting Yondu kiss him, that had been the screw up. He’d just been so, soft looking, so relaxed and at ease. Stakar had been sorry to wake him. He’d also expected the youth to snap awake with a swinging fist, not a dreamy look that had drawn Stakar in. 

Stakar rubbed his face as he thought about it. It wasn’t even a good kiss. Yondu was still new to this, and that made it even worse. ‘Idiot’ he thought. ‘Weak willed idiot.’

Bad kiss or not it had been his final blow. When Yondu had gotten into his face just now, all the pain,hurt,rage and desperation in his carmine eyes made Stakar crumble. He hadn’t meant to kiss Yondu, hadn’t meant hold the youth against him. But he had, and any control he had slipped away from him. What worried him most was that he didn’t regret it, he wanted more, to show Yondu more.

Yet even now, Stakar’s mind was turning to running after Yondu. Chasing him down and making him come home with him. Yondu was wrong to think Stakar couldn’t help him, but there were rules that had to be followed to make that help stick, especially if he wanted to save Peter. The only saving grace Stakar had right now was Yondu’s age, they were both adults, by law. Yondu could walk out of Brad Sr. house right now if he wanted, but Stakar knew he wouldn’t, not with Peter there. 

Something clicked in Stakar’s gut, like a fire being brought to life. Yondu didn’t know certain things that he really needed to know. Despite Stakar’s feelings, and the potentially disastrous turn of events in his office today, Yondu needed to know them. Stakar deiced it was time then, for he and Mr. Courg to have a chat. 

 

***

 

Yondu was slowing down as they approached the house. He’d been motivated when he grabbed Peter from the Lower School, and had practically marched them most of the way home, refusing to talk to the little brat no matter how many times the kid asked him if he was ok. Why did he constantly ask that?

Now though, the last few streets lay before them and the reality of what was waiting slammed into him. Anger and hurt would only get him so far before the real world set in. Taking Peter back to this place, was akin to throwing him rabid wolves. And that didn’t even begin to cover what was probably going to happen to Yondu. He still felt warm and sated when he thought about what he and Stakar had done in his office. He wasn’t ready to have all that tainted by fresher memories of Brad Sr., crudely mimicking the same acts. 

Yondu shuddered at the thought.

“You ok?” Peter asked and Yondu made a noise between a growl and an irritated scream. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose and made himself take long, slow breaths. What the fuck was he going to do. 

“You are, the biggest pain in my ass,” He said his eyes still closed and his hand on his face. “Before you I could have just, laid low and, I don’t know, ran.”

He heard Peter snuffly beside him and he looked down. The ginger kid looked confused and worried. Everyone was worried these last few days it seemed. Everything was worrisome. Yondu squinted his eyes shut again. He just couldn’t think right anymore. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter said when the silence had gone too long. “I didn’t mean to make you get beat up today.”

“You didn’t,” Yondu said. “I made the choice.” 

Peter sniffled and Yondu rolled his eyes under his closed lids. He’d made a lot of choices lately, guess he had to make a few more. 

“Hey kid, you trust me?”

Peter shrugged. “I guess,” He said wiping his nose. “Why?”

Yondu had the tiniest formations of a plan. It was a bad plan, and it was incredibly low on details, but it was a plan. 

“If anyone asks, I kidnapped you, got it?” Yondu said, rolling out his neck and shoulders. They just had to make it the night, he thought. Then he could dump Peter at school, with a note for Stakar. 

“You’re gonna kidnap me?” Peter looked up at him confused and a little excited. “When?”

“Right now,” and Yondu reached down and scooped the kid up and over his shoulder. Peter protested and tried to kick, but it was pointless given their strength difference. 

“Shut up, Pete, I’m doing you a favor.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader!
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.


	4. The Best Laid Plans of Yondu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yondu's plan isn't working out very well, and that Obfonteri guy is really a jerk.

**School Day Blues Chapter 4**

**swearing, casual violence, implied child abuse, idk it’s dark-ish**

 

Yondu hadn’t ever been what he’d consider clever, but even this took the top of his bad idea list. 

“We’re gonna sleep here?” Peter asked, shivering. 

“Shut up, yer safe ain't ya?” Yondu said leaning against the wall of the school under the evergreen canopy. “And be quiet, there is a patrol officer and I don’t wanna find out if yer faster than him.” Moreover, the school patrol officer was an old guy with a bad hip, and Yondu really didn’t want to go beating up the elderly even if the guy was a crank. 

Peter huffed into his arms that were wrapped sound his legs. 

“I'm hungry,” Peter said.

“Won’t be the last time you’ll be hungry,” Yondu said. Also, there was nothing he could really do about it. 

“I’m cold,” Peter sniffed.  Yondu sighed and put an arm around him, pulling Peter against his side. 

“Best I can do for now,” Yondu said. He really should have snuck back to the house and gotten some kind of provisions, but it had been a last minute plan, and we was seeing why those didn’t work out well.

“Maybe we could start a fire?” Peter said.

“Under a tree?” Yondu said, his tone conveying how stupid an idea he thought that was. Peter snuggled against his ribs. 

“You smell funny,” Peter said and Yondu felt a hot rush. He probably did smell little funny.

“You don’t smell like flowers either,” He said. 

Peter adjusted lower, resting his head on Yondu’s leg. Yondu laid his hand on Peter’s shoulder imagine the skin beneath still smooth and pink and unblemished. Yondu intended to keep it that was too. If Stakar really thought he could help, Yondu was going to hold him to it.

 

***

 

He’d drifted off at some point, and some noise woke him betraying movement. No, that wasn’t quite right. He’d  _ felt  _ the movement, that was new. Yondu opened his eyes slowly. He knew they had a faint glow in the dark that could alert someone if they were looking. He didn’t see anything right off, but he could feel that movement again. 

Yondu moved as quietly as he was bale, he’d learned to not make much noise in Brad Sr. house, seemed to serve he well now. He shifted just enough to lift Peter’s head off his lap and settled the boy down. He crouched down low to look as best he could through the branches. There was definitely someone moving around out there, and he just hopped it was the elderly patrol officer who didn’t really give a shit. 

“Udonta?” the horse whisper made Yondu roll his eyes. How the fuck did Obfonteri find him here? “You under there?” 

He thought about just sitting here and waiting the lanky idiot out. Yondu had the patience of a monk in full meditation when he needed. Yet if the lanky idiot kept tromping around out there and whispering, he would wake Peter, and it would all be over. Sighing, Yondu slid silently out of the hiding place and dusted himself off.

“What the fuck are you doing out here, Obfonteri?” He asked crossing his arms. Obfonteri just looked him over with his cool eyes, now a dusty gray in the lack of light. 

“Stakar went to yer house, yer guardian said you weren’t there.” Obfonteri crossed his own arms and glared back. Yondu’s brain stuck on Stakar going to his house. 

“Why’d he do that?” Yondu said, blood pumping in his ears. 

“Cause yer an idiot who won’t ask for help when it’s clear you need it,” Obfonteri said. He looked Yondu over again. Yondu still had on Stakar’s shirt and picked a few stray needles from it. Obfonteri was dressed in a pair of jeans and an old college t shirt. It made him look even younger than Yondu. “You don’t look any worse than normal. Did you even go home?”

Yondu frowned. Intimidating this guy didn’t work, hitting him would lead to a scuffle possibly ruin Stakar’s shirt, what else did he have to get rid of him with?

“Did you? Or did you just go beat it off in the bathroom all this time after you got yer eyeful?” Yondu said, praying Peter was still asleep. 

It was a lame line of attack, but the guy just wouldn’t go away. Obfonteri’s face flushed even in the dark, but he didn’t budge. Yondu decide to press. 

“Which part did you like best? When he went down on me, or when he came in his own hand?” Yondu leaned forward to keep his voice low, but it gave him the added bonus of appearing to leer. 

Obfonteri’s face got a touch darker, but his eyes stayed hard. He leaned in too, almost brushing Yondu’s nose with his own. 

“The best part?” He said low and husky. “Yer face when you came. I really liked the way yer back arched too. Very hot.” There was an unsettling sincerity in those words that Yondu had not been expecting. What was more, his lame gambit had completely backfired and it was Yondu who was embarrassed. The more it sunk in the more embarrassed it made him, and when he saw the way Obfonteri smirked at him, he was pretty sure he was being mocked. 

Yondu swung out without thinking, and Obfonteri blocked it while moving backwards, obviously prepared. Yondu prepared to jump him when Peter’s small panicked voice called out to him. 

“Yondu? Yondu!” He could hear the kid thrashing through the brush, and Obfonteri just looked down at the bush. 

“Well that answers question number two,” He said. 

“Shit Pete, quiet down, you want everyone to know where out here?” Yondu bent down so Peter could see him. The kid’s eyes were wide with panic. Yondu didn’t understand that, why was Peter so worked up over not knowing where Yondu was? Peter crawled the rest of the way out of the bushes and clung to Yondu again. “Fucking stop that,” Yondu said, but he just covered his face with one hand. 

“I woke up, you weren’t there,” Peter said, his high voice shaky. 

“Yah I know, it’s called getting up and moving around.” Yondu said, slowly disentangling himself from Peter’s surprisingly clingy limbs. Obfonteri snickered behind them and Yondu shot him a dark look. “Enjoying this are you?” he grumbled.

“Yup,” Obfonteri said, his eyes on Yondu’s posterior. Yondu flipped him off and he finally peeled Peter off him. Obfonteri smirked again. 

“Well now that everyone’s awake, why the fuck are you here, Obfonteri, you never really answered that.” Yondu stood up, letting Peter grab the hem of his shirt, Stakar’s shirt. 

“I told you,” Obfonteri said, his smile fading. 

“No, you said Stakar went to the house and Brad Sr. said I wasn’t home. What’s that got to do with you being here?” 

Obfonteri’s face got serious, and he shifted looking uncomfortable. Yondu didn’t like the way that looked. 

“What’s going on, Yondu?” Peter asked, his grip loosening some as he woke up properly. Yondu’s glare became deadly now. Obfonteri said Stakar had gone to his home, had talked with Brad Sr.. What had happened after that?

“He’s fine,” Obfonteri said reading Yondu’s expression correctly. “He’s just pissed and worried.” Obfonteri shrugged again. That relieved Yondu to hear. Except for the pissed part. 

“He’s pissed at me?” Yondu said, then closed his eyes and shook his head. That was a stupid thing to say out loud. 

“No, he’s pissed at your guardian. Guy called the cops on him. They came and arrested him.”

“Wait, Stakar’s in lockup?” Yondu had a brief image of the stately Stakar in a filthy jail cell. 

“Yah, he sent me to find you.” Obfonteri shrugged. “Said, ‘check the window’.” Obfonteri looked over at the office window. “He told me about how you liked to hide under the tree at lunch.”

Great, Obfonteri knew practically everything about him and Stakar now. Yondu rubbed his forehead. He was getting that feeling again, like he was feeling movement. 

“Someone’s coming,” Yondu said. Obfonteri looked skeptical. 

“How do you-” But the guttural sound of Taserface’s shout of discovery was enough to make them all jump. 

“Fucking kidding me,” Yondu said. 

Halfnut and Taserface were at the far end of the back wall of the building. The sight of them didn’t really scare him, but the idea that they were here, meant Brad Sr. wasn’t far behind. Yondu didn’t bother with explanation, he just scooped Peter up again and ran. If Obfonteri followed to stay, that was his business. 

Yondu took off towards the Lower School. There were woods past it, and if he recalled right, trials inside those woods that led to the surrounding city. They’d have to jump a fence, but Yondu was pretty certain he could toss the brat over it if he had too. 

“Where are you going?” Obfonteri said beside him. 

Damn long legs, the guy was keeping up. Yondu said nothing, mainly because he didn’t know. Obfonteri’s face furrowed, and he pulled on Yondu’s arm, “this way idiot,” he said and began to lead them around the other side of the school. 

Yondu briefly thought about telling the jerk to go fuck himself, but then remembered how badly his plan was going so far, and Peter’s death-grip in his neck was a little unsettling. Kid was scared, as he should be. So Yondu followed Obfonteri, promising himself to make some snide remark as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, the change in course was spotted by Halfnut and Taserface, and they in turn loudly alerted Brad Sr.. They had the advantage of distance, but with an extra fifty pounds from the kid, Yondu wasn’t sure he’d keep the distance up. He wasn’t exactly built for endurance running, not like the skinny jerk in front of him.

They rounded the lower school and the secondary gates. Obfonteri huffed something about two more blocks and Yondu just concentrated on keeping up. He wasn’t feeling it yet, but he knew he would soon. The sounds of their pursuers was a decent motivator too, especially since they sounded like they were getting closer. 

They shot through the gates and Obfonteri dashed across the street. At this time of night there wasn’t much traffic, but there was the flashing lights of law enforcement in the distance. Fuck, Brad Sr. or someone, must have called the cops. Yondu stopped briefly to consider this. This was real now, he was really breaking laws, and he wasn’t going to have any way out of it, he wasn’t a minor. 

“Yondu?” Peter asked in a tight, hushed voice clinging uncomfortably tight to Yondu’s neck. 

“Yondu!” Obfonteri called from the other side of the street gesturing wildly for him to come on.

“Fuck-tard!” Taserface called from behind, he didn’t need to see any more of that face. 

He adjusted his grip on Peter and sprinted across the road. The relief on Obfonteri’s face was a little disconcerting, but he’d worry about that later. Yondu heard the sound of cops stopping cars and slamming doors. He heard new shouts to ‘stop’ or ‘freeze’.  They had some distance here too, and Obfonteri began leading them down streets in a way as to lose pursuers. Obfonteri seemed oddly competent at this, like he’d done this before, and Yondu found himself getting confused. He just chugged along though, keeping Obfonteri in sight. Suddenly, Obfonteri jerked him down a dead end alley and into a alcove of a door. 

“D-don't say anything,” Obfonteri panted. “Let me talk.” Obfonteri didn’t wait to see if Yondu was going to listen, he just twisted the knob on the door and swung it open. 

Inside was a typical bar set up. Yondu knew these well, as it was one of the places Brad Sr. would bring the boys too when he wanted a night out. This one was just as smoky, scented with a dozen acrid tobaccos, herb, stale boozes, the crack of cue balls, and the soft tumble of dice. Conversation didn’t even fade when they rushed in, and Obfonteri didn’t stop to talk. Yondu set Peter down on his own shaky feet, just in case he’d need his hands, but pulled the boy along close to him. 

“Tullk!” Obfonteri called as they got close to the bar. It glittered with neon ads and clean glasses. “Tullk! I need a favor!”

The man behind the counter didn’t look much older than either of them, but a long scar on the left side of his face made him look a whole lot meaner. The tattoo on the right side of his face didn’t help. He narrowed eyes at Obfonteri, and looked like he was going to ask something, 

“No time!” Obfonteri said dashing down a narrow hall beside the bar. 

Tullk tilted his head towards the ceiling and tossed a rag down on the bar. Obfonteri opened what looked like a storage closet and smelled of cleaner and too much toilet paper. He pushed his way to the back and opened a small door in the floor.

“I better get a full explanation later,” Tullk said in a sing song accent as he stood in the doorway. Obfonteri gave him a thumbs up and gestured for Yondu and Peter to get in the hole. 

“There’s cops too,” Obfonteri said over his shoulder as Yondu peered down. “Get in the damn hole, idiot!” He snapped and Yondu shot him a look, but pulled Peter to him and lowered them both in. 

“Gee, thanks professor,” Tullk said dryly, “Just what I always wanted.” 

Tullk lowered the door as Obfonteri slid in and they could hear him sliding something over it. The darkness was deep and Yondu could feel there wasn’t much room 

“Yondu?” Peter whispered shrilly. It made him jump. “I gotta pee.”

Of course he did. 

“You see any toilets in here?” Yondu asked quietly.

“No.”

“Then what you think I’m gonna tell you?” 

“I have to hold it,” Peter said with more than a little sulk in his voice.

“Yer a damn genius, kid.” 

Yondu heard Obfonteri snicker beside him softly.

The music cut off from above them and the sounds of authoritative yelling replaced it. Some rebellious yelling responded, and there was the sound of a scuffle and more authoritative yelling. Then relative silence as boots stomped around and doors were opened and shut. 

Yondu pulled Peter close to him and gently covered the boy’s mouth. Two small hands curved over his own, but didn’t try and pull away. The kid was shivering against him and Yondu sympathized. Yondu jumped slightly when he felt Obfonteri’s hand settle on his shoulder. He almost smiled at the comforting gesture. The reality was, if their little space was found, they were all shit out of luck. 

The door to their room opened and the sounds of steps and things moving made all of them go still. 

“I told yeh,” Tullk’s voice said irritably. “Iffen someone came in here, they dinna stay. We don’t even serve Kree in here.”

“Sir, we’re just following orders,” Whoever the officer was said. 

More things were shuffled around and Tullk protested the state of his supply closet after they’d left. There was a hard slam of the door as the people above left, and everyone held their breath just a bit longer. 

“Fuck,” Peter said, and Yondu had to hold a hand over his own mouth to keep from laughing. 

 

***

 

“They said you kidnapped some guy’s kids,” Tullk said leaning over the bar, the neon ads behind him haloing his gray dreadlocks and making them almost pastel in color. Yondu kept an eye on the guy, he’d left them in that hole for almost two hours as the bar upstairs closed. Everyone had to pee by the time he finally let them out. 

“I didn’t kidnap anyone,” Obfonteri said scratching his nose. “Everyone came on their own accord.”

“Eight year olds can’t do shit on their own,” Tullk pointed out looking over at Peter who was wandering around the bar looking mystified. 

Probably wasn’t the best idea to let the kid just meander, but Yondu was tired and they still had to negotiate with this Tullk guy about if he was going to let them stay or not. “And this one’s just as dumb as you were at nineteen.”

Obfonteri rolled his eyes and said nothing, he just picked a the leftover bar food Tullk had sat out for Peter since the boy had announced, loudly, that he was hungry. Yondu had eaten a little too, but honestly he was so sore and tired and his stomach in knots, he didn’t have much of an appetite. 

“Look, I’m just gonna keep em in my place for a few days, till things get sorted out. I’ll owe you,” Obfonteri said and Tullk laughed. 

“You owe me anyway!” Tullk pushed up from the bar and waved at them. “Do whatever, professor, you always have.”

“Oh stop throwing that in my face,” Obfonteri complained as he got up. “I still sleep here don’t I?” Obfonteri turned around to Yondu, and Yondu gave him a look that demanded more explanation. Tullk laughed. 

“The professor here got top honors in our class,” Tullk said pointing with a thumb. “Went on after graduation to la-la university. Aced it there too.”

“Please stop,” Obfonteri said his hand on his face.

“Then decide he wanted to ‘give back’,” Tullk made air quotes, “since we were all home kids.”

“You done?” Obfonteri asked looking like he’d lost a good chunk of his dignity. 

Yondu grinned along with Tullk, but didn’t really think it was all a bad thing. 

“Now fancy-pants Kraglin thinks that ‘cause he sleeps above me bar at night, he’s still one of us guttersnipes.” Yondu looked from Tullk’s wagging fingers to Obfonteri’s bright purple face. Guttersnipe? This guy? He wore a fucking tie to school.

“You let me sleep here, what’s that say about you?” Obfonteri retaliated. Tullk waved it off. 

“That I’ve got a soft spot for old mates. Same reason I let Oblo rent the other one. Also you pay your rent on time and don’t bitch too much when things break down.” 

“Speaking of which,” Obfonteri started but Tullk waved him off again. 

“Go, before I come to my senses.” 

Obfonteri grinned and gestured for Yondu to follow him. They collected Peter, who was laying on some chairs, drifting off, and headed up a back flight of stairs to the floors above the bar. There were two stories, and Kraglin was on the uppermost floor. He led them down a short hall and pointed a the only other door besides his own. 

“That’s Oblo’s apartment. He’s a solid guy, little slow, but solid. Still, try not to get him involved, he’s on probation.” Obfonteri unlocked his door and ushered everyone in. 

The place was clean, at least. It had one window that opened over the kitchen sink and looked over the dark street. It wasn’t the worst part of town, just an older part that hadn’t been kept up much.  

There wasn’t much in the way of furniture. There was a tiny stove and beat-up refrigerator in one corner of the large main room. Something that might be a microwave hovered above the stove. There was a single chair and a cafe style table in the middle of the room, and then books. Books in stacks, books on make-shift shelves that seemed to be held up by more books, books on the table, books on the refrigerator. 

“You got a lot of books, mister,” Peter said with a yawn. 

“Um, yah,” Obfonteri didn’t seem to know how to explain that, Yondu swatted Peter’s head lightly. 

“He’s a professor, idiot. Of course he’s got books,” Yondu wasn’t sure this was completely true, but it made Obfonteri look a little more at ease. 

“Bathroom’s on the right, hot water’s out. Tullk’s getting it fixed but it’s gonna be a bit. Bedroom on the left.” He let his hand drop. “I’m not really setup for guests, but I’ll figure something out.”

“If you got a spare blanket for the kid, we can probably make a second bed out of all the books,” Yondu joked, moving around the living space. 

“Yeh,” Obfonteri didn’t sound too convinced by that, but he did go into the bedroom and came back out with a blanket. “Maybe the kid should sleep in my bed. I mean, won’t be the first time I’ve had to crash on the floor.”

“Kid needs to toughen up,” Yondu said with a yawn. He was to the point he didn’t give a shit where he slept, just as long as he got some sleep. Obfonteri gave him a smirk. 

“Yeh, sure. So, why don’t you take him on in there and get him settled?” Obfonteri said taking the blanket he’d come out with and creating a pallet on the floor. 

“Sure,” anything sounded good. 

Yondu pulled Peter with him into the equally sparse bedroom and pushed him towards the bed. Peter walked over, but didn’t let go of Yondu’s hand. 

“I ain’t sleeping with you, idiot.” Yondu growled, but walked with him anyway.

“Just a minute?” Peter asked, he was paler than he should of been, and dark circles were under his big eyes. Yondu figured that was all a bad sign, but he didn’t know what to do about it. 

“Fine,” He crawled into the narrow bed and managed to sit up enough to give the kid some space. Peter curled against him like a cat, and was instantly asleep. 

Yondu sat in bed a while, looking around and trying to figure out how the hell he’d gotten here. He felt his eyes drooping, and thought about fighting it off, but resisted. He had one last image of Obfonteri looking in on them and slowly closing the door, then dreamless sleep covered him, and he finally got some rest. 

 

***

 

“They’re both still asleep. S’why I didn’t come get you when you called,” Obfonteri voice was low, but Yondu was used to listening for low voices. 

The voice wasn’t immediately familiar, and his surroundings sure as fuck weren’t either. He felt groggy and stiff and a little panicked. He resisted the urge to jump up because of the weight on his legs and it took him far too long to register what it was.   

“How did you get him here?” The deep baritone voice of Stakar cleared the sleep fog from Yondu’s brain with a whirlwind of confusion and complicated emotions. 

“Well, we kinda had to run somewhere when his jackass dad showed up. This just seemed like a good idea.” Obfonteri said. Yondu finally remembered he was in Obfonteri’s apartment and the weight on his legs was the boy. 

Peter looked a little better in color, but not much. Yondu wondered if he could be getting sick and mentally swore. Last thing he needed was a sick kid. He shifted slowly, moving from under Peter and laying the kid out better. Then he tiptoed to the door and slowly opened it, peeking out.

Stakar was leaning against the sink facing Obfonteri in the chair. Stakar looked rumpled. His pants and shirt were the ones he’d been wearing at school, and they looked slept in. His glorious black hair was mussed and barely tamed back. His square face looked haggard, unshaven, and a little pale. Overall, he just looked tired.

Obfonteri didn’t look a whole lot better. He was moving stiffly, and his own wiry brown hair was mussed. He noticed Yondu watching and tilted his head. He gestured for Yondu to come out, and Stakar turned to look. 

Well he was busted now. Yondu steadied himself with a breath and walked out, closing the door behind him. He couldn’t get over how the two of them looked at him, or how that was making him feel right now. They were both tired and out of sorts, all because of him. He didn’t like it, didn’t like the relief on Stakar’s face, didn’t like that he’d accepted help. 

“Kid still asleep?” Obfonteri asked. 

“Yah,” Yondu said. Obfonteri nodded. 

“You want something to eat? I got, um, soup?” Obfonteri got up, stretching a bit. He’d changed into an old t-shirt and some pajama bottoms. It didn’t do much to hide his string-bean figure, but it did reveal a surprising amount of muscle. 

“Yah, sure,” Yondu was so far out of his element now, he didn’t even know what to do. He just watched the two men, Stakar watching him, and Obfonteri trying to be causal. 

After several minutes of Obfonteri going through the motions of picking out a can, opening the can, finding a bowl, pouring out the can. Stakar put his coffee mug down and turned on Yondu.

“What the hell were you thinking?” He snapped, and everyone went still. Yondu swallowed. Ok, he could deal with this, he could handle anger and rage directed at him. He understood this. 

“Stakar, I don’t-” Obfonteri begain. 

“Quite Kraglin,” Stakar snapped without looking at him. “Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused?” 

Stakar took a step closer to Yondu. He braced. He knew what was coming next, he waited. He focused on a point at Stakar’s feet, refusing to look up. There was a long, long moment. Then Stakar exhaled. 

“I’m not going to hit you, Yondu,” Stakar said. 

Yondu looked up slightly, seeing for the first time Stakar’s lower lip was puffed out from being busted and his jaw was bruised. Yondu frowned. Hadn’t Obfonteri said something about Stakar going to his house looking for him? 

“Look, everything we do from this point forward has to be about Peter, alright?” Stakar was saying, apparently changing tactics. “We need to do what we can to keep him away from Courg.”

“What is there?” Obfonteri said, pretending not to notice them, and failing miserably. Yondu caught the look in his eyes and it was a little unsettling. “We have to prove Courg is abusing his kids, and I’ll put a week's paycheck on his actual sons not coming forward. Yondu’s the only one who can speak out, but after last night, we need a really sympathetic ear.” 

“Aleta knows some people who can help, but it won’t matter if you won’t talk to them,” Stakar said looking to Yondu again. “If you don’t talk to them, tell them what happened, why you did it, they will just take Peter back and throw you in jail.”

“I,” Yondu tried to find the right way to explain why he couldn’t do that. 

Why he couldn’t tell them anything, how it wouldn’t help, how it would just make things worse. Stakar’s bruised jaw stirred something in him though, and he wanted to touch it, to sooth it. “It’s not, that, it’s, I can’t,” Yondu couldn’t form a complete sentence, there was too much in his head. Was jail so bad compared to Brad Sr.? But then Peter would be with Brad Sr., and Yondu wouldn’t be there to help, and Stakar was injured because of him, and all he wanted was to tell him everything, but then Stakar would just be disgusted with him, and fuck he didn’t want that, he really thought he’d rather die. 

Yondu scrubbed his face and head with his hands. 

Stakar looked confused, and Obfonteri shook his head. 

“You don’t understand Stakar,” Obfonteri said. “You don’t know what it’s like growing up not being able to trust anyone.” Stakar looked at Obfonteri, who just shrugged. “You’ve told me about yer parents, you had a good home, parents that cared. Yondu didn’t.” Obfonteri looked towards Yondu, but not at Yondu. “And he hasn’t learned that he can trust us yet, and frankly, pressuring him ain't going to help.” 

Stakar and Yondu both looked at Obfonteri then at each other, then back to Obfonteri again. 

“I… trust… you,” Yondu managed to get out. Obfonteri rolled his eyes.

“The hell you do,” Obfonteri said. “I’m not even sure you like me. But I do know I’m not going to hand you or the kid over to anything resembling the authorities, and that includes you, Stakar.” 

Stakar straightened and fixed Obfonteri with a stare that would have wilted a lesser man. As it was Obfonteri looked uncomfortable, but held his ground, leaning and crossing his arms. 

“You think I would let something happen to, them.” Stakar’s voice was dangerously low. Obfonteri swallowed and Yondu could see the bob of his Adam's apple.

“I think you’ll do what you think is best, and that’s not the same as doing what is right, this time.” Obfonteri said and Stakar’s eyes flashed. Obfonteri winced a little and looked at Yondu. 

“What do you propose? We ship the two of them off somewhere? Hide them from the authorities?” Stakar scoffed at how ridiculous he thought that was. “As long as they’re on planet they will eventually be found.”

“Yah, as long as they’re on planet,” Obfonteri said, and everyone got quiet at that. 

Yondu understood what Obfonteri was saying. If he could get off planet with Peter, they’d be safe from Brad Sr.. As thrilling as that sounded, they’d have to get off plan first, and then what? Yondu wasn’t exactly sheltered, but he knew he was far from skilled enough to survive on his own off planet, add the boy to the equation, and they were pretty much screwed. He shook his head. He hadn’t gone through two days of amped up hell just to toss the kid into space. But fuck! Talking to anyone about it, that was… it was… He rubbed his face with his hands and growled under them. 

“Fuck it,” if he could force himself to walk into the garage and spend the afternoon with Brad Sr., he could talk to the cops or whoever, right? How hard could it actually be? “But you have to promise me the kid won’t be put in another home like this.” He couldn’t go through all this if it was just going to be repeated all over again either. 

Obfonteri looked at him and then at Stakar. 

“I can’t promise that,” Obfonteri said softly. “I don’t have control over that.” 

Stakar ran his tongue over his fat lip, then slipped a hand through his hair. 

“Let me see what I can do, first.” He looked at Yondu, and then at Obfonteri. “I need to go home and change, make some calls. Until then, I’d really like it if you would stay in my home. Both of you.”

Obfonteri nodded. “I can get them to your place, no problem.” 

“I meant all of you, Kraglin. The boy, Yondu, and you.” Stakar ran another hand through his hair and looked Yondu over once more. “Please?” 

The word cost him, and Yondu could see that. It made his chest hurt to hear Stakar ask him to come, knowing that Yondu could, probably should say no. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to go where ever Stakar would take him. He wanted to believe that Stakar could make everything better. Yondu looked at Obfonteri who was watching him, waiting for him to answer first. Why?

“Sure,” Yondu said and Obfonteri nodded, actually seemed to relax a bit. 

“Fine, but we’ll need to move you two in secret. Tullk can help us there.” He nodded at Stakar. “Trust me on this, I can get us to your place.” 

Stakar nodded and let out a long, aggravated sounding sigh. 

“Let’s do this then. I’m going to go home, get the place ready. Let me know when you’re coming over.” Stakar looked at Yondu again and then turned and left. Yondu sighed, he wished he’d said something more before Stakar had gone, but he didn’t know exactly what that would have been.

“He keeps looking at you like that and everyone’s gonna know he’s fucking you,” Obfonteri said. Yondu gaped at him and wasn’t sure if he was going to hit him or not. Obfonteri saw it too and smirked. “You’re not a whole lot better, you look like a lovestruck puppy.” 

“Fuck you, Obfonteri” Yondu said. Obfonteri snorted. 

“You keep saying that, but I just don’t think you mean it,” Obfonteri put the bowl of soup in the microwave and set the timer. “You may as well call me Kraglin outside of school. I mean shit, you slept in my bed, how much more informal can you get?” 

Yondu just tilted his head and tried to work out exactly what he was supposed to say to all that. Granted, Obfonteri had seen him in a very compromising position, and he’d seen parts of Yondu he never showed to anyone, never intended on showing to anyone. But the guy sounded like he was, what, hitting on him?

“Ok, Kraglin,” he said trying to get his brain to unlock. “Why the hell are you helping us out so damn much? You just want a blow job from me that bad?” 

The timer on the microwave beeped and Kraglin blinked. Yondu saw the light flush to his cheeks and then Kraglin smirked again. 

“Yah, that’s my plan, keep breaking the law till you kneel down and blow me.” He turned to get the soup. “Shut up and eat, I’m going to go talk with Tullk. If the kid wakes up, feed him this.” Kraglin set another can down. “I assume you can work a can-opener?” 

“Yeh, figured that one out early,” Yondu said taking the hot bowl of his own soup that Kraglin shoved at him. 

“Good.  I won’t be long.” Kraglin said. He pulled his door open and stopped briefly in the doorway. “Don’t, you know, run off while I’m gone. We really are trying to help, and I promise, if things go south, I won’t let them take you or Peter.” 

Yondu stood, holding his soup, fighting to figure Kraglin out as fast as possible. For the first time, he didn’t hear an empty promise. He believed Kraglin, even when he didn’t fully believe Stakar. He didn’t feel safe exactly, but he felt, reassured. 

“I won’t,” He said and sat down at the table. Kraglin pursed his lips and nodded, then pulled the door closed after him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader!
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.


	5. Of Trucks and Garages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kraglin tries to help, and adults a little, and Yondu finds his arrow.

“So, you screw his brains out?” Tullk set hot coffee down in front of Kraglin.

“No!” Kraglin said turning purple. Tullk arched an eyebrow. “He’s a damn student, Tullk,” Kraglin said, and he wasn’t Stakar. 

“So why are you down here asking for the delivery truck?”

Kraglin hung his head. 

“I need to sneak him into Stakar’s house.” Kraglin said into his coffee. 

“So, let me get this straight,” Tullk stopped setting up the bar. “You wanna borrow the delivery truck to sneak the guy you wanna bang into the house of the guy he is banging?”

“No,” Kraglin said sourly. “I want to help two students, from the school I teach at, to get away from their abusive guardian. Shit Tullk, I’m a professor, he’s a student!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll have Oblo drive you then.” Tullk shook his head and chuckled. 

“Oblo’s on probation, and everything has gone south with this. I don’t want him getting caught up in it.” He knew he was being pessimistic, but nothing much had seemed to go right yet.

“I want my truck back, and I ain’t driving yeh.” 

“Gef?” Kraglin suggested. Tullk grinned and wagged a finger at him. No one really liked Gef. 

“I’ll have em here this afternoon.” Tullk went back to slicing fruit and shook his head. “He’s just up yer alley though, high maintenance, damaged goods.” 

“Fuck off Tullk,” Kraglin groaned. “He’s nineteen, scared, and stupid.”

“Who’s that remind me of?” Tullk said tapping his scared cheek with the knife. Kraglin flipped him off an went back to his apartment. 

 

***

 

Peter woke right after Kraglin went out, and Yondu gave him his soup, cracking the other can open for himself. Peter’s color was still off, and Yondu didn’t like it. 

“You feeling alright? Not like, you wanna barf or nothing?” Yondu asked. Peter shook his head and ate his soup. He was quiet, and that more than anything bugged Yondu. In the two days he’d been with the kid, he’d never been quiet. “Please don’t get fucking sick on me.” Yondu pleaded, Peter just looked confused. 

“I’m just tired, that’s all. I never slept outside like that before. We always went camping with a tent and sleeping bags.” Peter said. 

“We went camping once,” Yondu said. “It sucked.” Peter shrugged. 

“I liked it. My mom would sing and make s’mores. She was always singing.” Peter looked a little better when he talked about his mother. Maybe he was just home-sick. 

“She uh, sing good?” Yondu asked trying to find a way to kept the conversation going.

Peter nodded enthusiastically. 

“Oh yeah, she was the best! She could sing anything on the radio!” Peter’s blue eyes sparkled as he talked. Yondu tried to look as enthusiastic, but he didn’t really get it. His parents had dumped him with the Kree long before he was Peter’s age. He didn’t even know enough about his mother to miss her. 

“She gave me a mixtape and everything,” Peter’s face fell suddenly. “But Brad Sr. took it when I moved in. Said I could have it back when I turned eighteen.”

Yondu sucked his teeth while he inhaled. Brad Sr. had done similar to him. He knew somewhere in the dreaded garage there was a box with all the shit he’d owned from the Kree home in it. It was like he could sense it when he was in there, and it made going into the garage so much worse. 

“Yah,” Yondu said trying to shake his own feelings. “Maybe we can try an get it back one day.” He mumbled. 

“Really?” Peter latched onto that with far too much enthusiasm. Yondu realized this was the wrong thing to say.

“I mean, not anytime soon, you know. We’re going to go stay with Stakar for a while first.” Peter’s face fell then lit up again.

“Really?” He wasn’t as excited about going to Stakar’s as he was about getting his crap back, but he still seemed to like the idea. Yondu ran with it.

“Yah, Kraglin is setting it up now.” He scrambled for a way to keep the topic on this, without sounding too excited himself. “Stakar’s gonna try an help out with the whole, I kidnapped you thing.” Peter shrugged. 

“You didn’t kidnap me,” Peter said. “You just suck at running away.” 

Yondu jutted out his chin.

“Yah? I suppose you’d have done better?” cheeky little bastard. Peter nodded sagely.

“I’dda waited till after dinner, then sunk out with food and my stuff.” Peter got up and rinsed his bowl in the tiny sink, then sat it aside for washing later. Yondu watched him and decided not to retaliate about how if they’d gone home, dinner would have been about the most pleasant thing to happen that night. The kid was oblivious, and as much as it annoyed Yondu, it seemed like the best thing to do was let him stay that way.

“Well, ain't you a fucking genius,” Yondu said, polishing off his own soup, and rising the bowl, only because the boy had. 

“How come you act all mean to me, but then you ain't?” Peter asked and Yondu winced. 

“How come you ask so many questions and never shut up?” Yondu asked back. Peter jutted out his own tiny chin an Yondu rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, cause I ain't any good at dealing with people?”

“Do you like me or not?” Peter asked and there was a slight tremble in his little voice. 

“Shit kid, you think I do this for people I don’t like?” Yondu didn’t want to say the actual words, that seemed too…soft. But he was pretty sure lying and saying he didn’t like the kid would end in tears. 

Peter seemed to evaluate Yondu for a moment, standing with his twiggy arms crossed and his freckled face all set in serious lines, and his ginger hair fluffed all around his head. 

“You look ridiculous,” Yondu told him, and Peter huffed.

“You look like a giant smurf!” Peter stomped his foot.

“I don’t know what that is,” Yondu said then he bit his upper lip trying not to laugh at the look of exasperation Peter gave him. 

“A smurf! They live in the enchanted forest? They make houses out of mushrooms?” Peter waved his hands around. “Don’t you ever watch TV?”

“TV?” Yondu couldn’t stop his smile now. “When have I had time to watch the vids? I’ve been too busy keeping yer ass outta a sling.”

Peter rolled his eyes again and Yondu laughed. 

“Are we gonna get clean clothes?” Peter asked changing the topic suddenly. Yondu snorted.

“Why, yers too ripe?” Yondu sniffed himself, he didn’t smell fresh. If they didn’t get new ones, maybe Kraglin could let them wash the ones they had. Also a shower didn’t sound awful, even if the water was cold. 

The door to the apartment clicked and Yondu stepped quickly between it and Peter. The boy just went still. 

“It’s just me,” Kraglin said as he came in. He gave a tiny wave as he stepped in and closed the door again. “Oh good, yer up.” He looked at Peter. “He feed you?”

Peter nodded and Yondu looked offended. 

“Well,” Yondu said crossing his arms. Kraglin bobbed his head. 

“Gotta a buddy who’s gonna help us sneak in this afternoon. He’ll be delivering furnishings in big boxes.” Kraglin looked around his apartment. “So, until then just uh, make yourselves at home?”

“Can I have a clean shirt?” Peter asked and Yondu swatted his head lightly. “Ow, what?”

“Uh” Kraglin looked around. “I  might have a shirt that fits you?” He went to his bedroom and Yondu glared at Peter.

“What?” Peter said again rubbing his head.

“He’s helping us out,” Yondu grumbled low so the kid could hear him. “Be grateful.”

“You’re not,” Peter pointed out and Yondu frowned.

“It’s probably too big, but here,” Kraglin handed Peter a plan blue shirt. 

“Thanks!” Peter went to the bathroom with the shirt and closed the door. Kraglin looked at Yondu, who shifted awkwardly. 

“So uh,” Yondu rubbed his neck. “Thanks, fer, you know.” He just waved a hand at the room. Kraglin shrugged. 

“Yeh,” he said. Yondu nodded back and looked around at anything that wasn’t Kraglin. “So you, uh, read a lot?” 

Kraglin snickered. “Do you?”

“I read,” Yondu puffed up his chest. 

“Yah? What?” Kraglin walked over to his fridge and pulled out a can of something. He held it up for Yondu to see, some kind of carbonated fruit juice. Yondu shrugged and reached for it. 

“I read for school,” He said popping the can. “I read, uh, some story about the last Kree war.”

“Juggenstipe?” Kraglin asked walking over to a pile of books and sorting through them. Yondu shrugged.

“I guess. It was depressing as shit and was all about the horrible things the Kree did to the races they tried to conquerer.” He hadn’t needed to read that book know what that was like. Kraglin picked up on that too. His eyes lifted to Yondu’s implant, and Yondu watched his eye flicker over it quickly. “Go on an ask.”

Kraglin looked like he was going to act innocent, then shrugged.

“What is it?” 

“Hell if I know,” Yondu said with a sip. “I used to have, like a crest.” He said holding his hand over his head and sweeping it back. “It ran down my back and all. Kree doctors chopped it off an put this thing in my head.” He taped the implant and shrugged. “I don’t know why.”

“You were young then?” Kraglin asked. Yondu nodded. 

“The doctors here said it’s some kinda nanotech something. It grows, keeps up with me.” He shrugged. “Ain't really seen the doctors much since I moved in with Brad Sr..”

“Yer file says you ain't a Kree,” Kraglin said and Yondu nodded again. 

“Don’t know much about that either,” He said. Peter came out of the bathroom his hair damp and his face ruddy.

“Your hot water don’t work, professor,” Peter said. Kraglin nodded and sipped his juice. “Oh, can I have one?” Peter came over and Yondu handed the boy his.

“Here,” Yondu put the can in Peter’s hand before he could protest. “I’m going to freshen up too, if that’s alright?”

“Sure,” Kraglin said, he was turning a book over in his hands. “I might have an oversize shirt or something you could wear.” 

Peter slurped happily on Yondu’s drink as Kraglin got up to check in his room again. Yondu pointed a finger and a glare at Peter before going into the bathroom. The boy just shrugged and sat down at the table. 

Yondu went into the bathroom and closed the door. He leaned on it a long moment, and rocked his head against the wood. 

Why the fuck did he tell Kraglin all that? He didn’t even want to tell Stakar any of that. How was it that Kraglin got information out of him that no one else did? Skinny fucker probably had mind powers or something. Yondu was going to have to be more careful around him. For now though, he peeled himself off the door and moved to the shower, hissing when the water ran ice cold.  

 

“This is Gef,” Tullk said gesturing to the chunk of a man before them. Gef was as tall as Kraglin, which put him almost a foot about everyone else, and built like Brad Sr.. His face was flushed, fully bearded, and his eyes bulged behind thick goggles. 

“You’re huge mister,” Peter said, and Yondu pulled Peter back a little when Gef glared down at him. He did not want to get hit by this guy. 

“Gef is gonna drive yeh to ‘the delivery point’ and drop yeh off. Then he’s coming straight back here.” Tullk splayed his hands. “Nothing fancy, and he’s not stick ground iffen yeh got caught. He’s not yer backup.” This was directed at Kraglin who didn’t seem concerned about it. 

“What’s the delivery point?” Peter asked and Tullk gave him an irritated look, then looked up at Yondu.

“Shut up Pete,” Yondu said giving him a light shake.

“I just wanna know-” Yondu shook him again, a little harder, and Peter grumbled, but stopped asking. 

“Alright, if that’s all settled then.” Tullk led them over to the nondescript white delivery truck. Inside was a couple large crates that were opened. “Ye’ll be in there, and Gef will deliver yeh, wheel yeh out with the hand cart, and ye’ll be in. No fuss no muss.”

“Thanks Tullk,” Kraglin said, leading the way into the back of the van. Yondu hoisted Peter up into the back and then climbed in himself. 

“Kraglin,” Tullk called before he pulled down the rolling door. “Keep a care for yerself?” 

Kraglin smirked and nodded. “I’ll be back, eventually. Just get my hot water fixed.”

Tullk rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut on them. The darkness was almost as complete as when they were in the hole. 

“You trust him,” Yondu said as the truck rumbled to life. 

“With my life,” Kraglin said back. “We’ve been together since we were kids.”

“He your foster brother too?” Peter asked moving around. Yondu could track him from the sounds he was making. 

“Not my foster brother, we grew up in the Xandarian Boys Home. We were all of age and such. We still keep an eye out for each other.”

“Like Yondu and me?” Peter said.

“Shut up Pete,” Yondu said. “If you keep talking to him he’s gonna keep asking you questions,” Yondu said to Kraglin. 

“Well, it is kinda my job to answer kids’ questions,” Kraglin said with a laugh. “Ain't nothing wrong with it.” 

“He already asks too many damn things,” Yondu grumbled. 

“I’m right here you know,” Peter said from somewhere near the boxes. “I can hear you.”

Yondu grumbled further as Kraglin chuckled. 

“How come you’re the same age as Yondu?” Peter was closer now, draped over Kraglin’s shoulder, Yondu could see him in the gloom. 

“I graduated early,” Kraglin said. And, Yondu thought, I got held back. “I’m actually older than him, anyway.”

“You don’t look older,” Peter said and Yondu reached out to swat Peter, but the kid could see better than he could in the dark and dodged. His hand smacked Kraglin instead.

“Son of a-,” Kraglin swore and smacked Yondu back, apparently everyone could see better then him. It wasn’t a hard tap, but it got his attention. “Damn it Yondu, quit hitting me!”

“Yah!” Peter said with a chuckle. 

“It ain't funny,” Kraglin grabbed Peter and pulled him own beside him. “You can’t go around smacking people. I get you two are fucked up, but seriously.” 

“Sorry,” Peter sulked. Kraglin looked up at Yondu, who was looking away. 

“I weren’t aiming for you,” Yondu said. 

“Yah well, you like getting smacked around?” Kraglin said. “Neither does he.”

Yondu glared at him, his glowing red eyes illuminating Kraglin’s sharp face. Yondu had a few choice words he wanted to say, but in his head, they all sounded whinny and petulant. Kraglin just waited him out. Yondu’s glare skimmed over the kid. If he wasn’t supposed to touch the kid, how was he supposed to correct him? Kraglin must have read something on his face. 

“Use yer words idiot,” Kraglin said leaning back. “Fuck.” 

“Peter,” Yondu tried to sound like a grown-up. “Don’t contradict adults.” 

“Why?” Peter asked, still sulking.

“Because it’s rude, ya lump!” Yondu said hugging himself to resist swatting him.

“Oh,” Peter sounded like he’ never considered that. Kraglin laughed. 

“Good job.” Kraglin said laying all the way back on the bed of the truck. “Now, work on that fer the rest of the drive.”

 

***

 

When they arrived they packed themselves into the two waiting crates, and Yondu held Peter as they were jostled from the back of the truck to their final destination. When the crates finally settled there was creek as the lid was hoisted open, and then bright light poured in, and Yondu felt Peter being pulled away from him. He reflexively pulled Peter back down and forced his eyes to focus in the light.

A fist landed hard between his eyes and Yondu’s head snapped back, hitting the crate. Harsh laughter followed the blow and Yondu felt Peter pulled from him completely. The boy shrieked an Yondu slid down the inside of the crate. 

“Yondu!” He heard Kraglin call out to him, but now he was being lifted bodily out of the crate. “I’ll kill you, Gef!”  

“Shut him up,” Brad Sr. said. Yondu jerked against the grip on him as it yanked him to his feet and then turned him to face the ugly wrinkled face of his foster father. Peter was tucked under one arm and struggling, but it was simply pointless. “Welcome home boy.” Brad Sr. said. 

Yondu felt his stomach curdle. He was in the garage. The cars had been moved out to make more space for what he could now see was Brad Sr. and his friends. Halfnut and Taserface were in the corner snickering, as were most of the others, large, fat and ugly individuals with bad teeth and worse BO. Two of them held Kraglin back, and two more were holding him. His mind raced back to the time before this, when Brad Sr. had wanted to teach him a hard lesson for running away.

Last time this happened he’d just submitted. It had lasted most of the night, but the less he fought it the less damage it did. This time the boy was here. Yondu was built to take damage, he’d figured that much out, but Peter? They’d break Peter. The kid was already tearing up, his eyes were too big and his color back to the pasty white. Yondu looked at Kraglin, what the fuck had gone wrong?

Kraglin looked oddly calm. He wasn’t straining against his captors. He just kept a steady eye on Yondu, and that made alarm bells go off in Yondu’s head. 

“What the hell Gef?” Kraglin asked in a steady voice. The big eyed man looked over at Kraglin and shrugged. “Tullk know about this?”

“Tullk don’t give a shit about this guy,” Gef said, the collected group grunted and laughed. 

“After tonight no one will,” Brad Sr. said. His eyes never leaving Yondu’s face. “Yer just some stupid punk who kidnapped this boy. Everyone thinks yer some kinda pervert.” Brad Sr. dropped Peter hard on the ground. The boy landed wrong, cried out, and curled up. 

Red-hot anger blinded Yondu and he lurched forward snarling, breaking the grips on his arms. He collided with Brad Sr. and the big man looked surprised. It’d been a long time since Yondu had fought back, and he was full grown now. 

Someone called out to him, but this only focus was the wrinkled purple face that was gaping at him as his fist connected. Yondu didn’t care a fuck wit about the rest of the people in the room as long as he was able to break that fat face into a thousand pieces. Words failed him as he swung, the sounds he made nothing more than clicks and a shrill whistle he remembered from his childhood. 

Something tugged on his brain. Like a finger running over the pulpy insides of an orange too hard. It made his whole body shiver and he lost track of what he was doing. Brad Sr.’s knee knocked the wind right out of him, and the shouts and jeers of the others in the garage finally penetrated his rage haze. He went down, gasping like a fish, and barely got a hand up in time to block the knee aimed at his face.  

He scrambled back, not sure what was going on exactly, people had move around, things shifted. He heard a painful scream followed by what could only be a growl. There was a small wall of bodies blocking his view of the back of the garage and something was thrashing around back there. He couldn’t see Kraglin, and Peter wasn’t where he’d been. Was the boy safe? Had Kraglin grabbed him and run? The lanky bastard was pretty fast. 

Peter screamed from the back of the garage like the Pomeranian did when Halfnut go a hold if it. Yondu felt sick, and managed to get to his feet as Brad Sr. rushed him. 

The bigger man bent down, slamming his shoulder into Yondu’s chest sending Yondu backwards. The crowd behind him parted and he hit the wall of storage boxes that lived in the garage. He dented them, and they fell heavily on and around him. 

Fuck. He just wanted to lay here a minute, catch his breath, figure out what the hell went wrong. 

Something kept buzzing above him, more a hum he guessed. It was inside his head. The buzzing seemed to be in the box that was currently on his face. It was more annoying than the laughter outside. He couldn’t think around it. 

Angrily, he ripped at the box as he struggled to get up. The contents didn’t register as he thrust his hand in to find the thing that was making his head hurt. When his fingers close over it, a jolt went through him like a low electrical current.

“Whattchu doing over there boy?” Brad Sr. said he grinned and there was blood in his jagged teeth. Yondu looked up to see deep purple blood running from Brad Sr.’s nose and one eye was starting to swell. That made Yondu smirk. He’d never bloodied Brad Sr. before. 

Then Kraglin leapt on Brad Sr.’s back like a jungle cat on prey, and a whole new chaos broke out. Brad Sr. arched back as Kraglin latched on. His fingers dug in through the gray shirt into leathery, wrinkled purple flesh, sharp claws latching on. His teeth, sharp and serrated, sunk in just behind the man’s neck, in the killing zone for anyone smaller. Brad Sr. roared like a beast, grabbed Kraglin with huge meaty hands, and ripped him off his back. Kraglin growled as two of his teeth were left behind when he was pulled off. 

Kraglin landed ass up in the boxes beside Yondu, crying out as something crunch beneath him. 

“Fuck,” Kraglin said around the blood and missing teeth. Yondu stood up, boxes falling off him and clutched the thing that had finally stopped buzzing in his fist. It was a stick of some kind, gold in color and very warm to his touch. It was sharp on one end, an Yondu wanted nothing more than to shove it straight into Brad Sr.’s eye. 

The stick hummed in Yondu’s hand and tore from his grip so fast, the flared back end of it cut his palm. Yondu whistled in surprise and a stunned hush fell over the garage. 

They all looked at stared at the golden shaft buried more than half way in Brad Sr.’s ruined eye. 

Dumbly, Brad Sr. reached up to touch the foreign object embedded in his skull, his face slack with shock.

“Do it again,” Kraglin said softly, righting himself. 

“I don’t know what I did,” Yondu whispered. 

Brad Sr. wrapped a meaty hand around the shaft and began to pull on it. Yondu felt it, and he didn’t want it removed. If anything he wanted it further in. The stick moved forward, the back end of it flaring red like Yondu’s eyes. It echoed the warm pulse in his skull, coming from his implant, he realized. The buzzing and humming was his implant and it was connected to the thing in Brad Sr.’s eye. 

Brad Sr. screamed as the stick borrowed further into his brain and Yondu  _ willed _ to go further. His every fiber was concentrated on wanting that thing to go straight through Brad Sr. skull. Brad Sr. yanked franticly on the stick, falling to his knees with the effort to try and yank the stick out.

“Just die you son of a bitch,” Yondu growled, his fist clenched in concentration. He felt the moment the stick clicked fully with him, like a bond he didn’t realize he was missing, but he just  _ knew.  _

He whistled.

The arrow flared and flew through the back of Brad Sr.’s skull.

Brad Sr. jerked once and fell forward, still as death.

The room went silent as the arrow hovered in the air, purple blood smeared down it’s length. Yondu felt the hum of it in his brain and understood how this worked. He looked around the room. Someone snarled at him and Yondu looked straight at him and whistled again. The arrow flew and slid smoothly through their head. 

“Yondu!” Peter screamed, and that was the last bit he needed. 

He felt this implant flair and the arrow moved as if alive. It struck before he even registered his own thought, it’s lit back-end leaving an after-burn image like a red ribbon in the air. 

People screamed, and Yondu walked forward, he had one goal in mind now that the arrow appeared to be running on it’s own. It only needed an occasional whistle to give it a push.

He found Halfnut and Taserface cowering by the far wall. Peter was on his knees clutching his arm against his side, Taserface’s hand was on his neck. The boy’s face was bloody, his eye swelling, his chest heaving, and he looked desperately at Yondu. 

“You got one chance. Let him go and git the fuck out.” the arrow came and hovered beside Yondu’s head like a snake ready to strike. Taserface’s lip curled and his grip tightened on Peter’s neck, the boy whimpered and closed his eyes, trying not to cry. 

Yondu whistled and the arrow drove itself into Taserface’s wrist. Taserface jerked back, and clutched his arm as blood ran freely form the wound. Halfnut appeared to have slightly more sense than this brother. He pulled Taserface along with him, running clumsily through the carnage around them. 

Yondu knelt down and looked Peter over. He was afraid to touch him. 

“Pete?” He asked the arrow still hovering above his head. “Hey, open yer eyes ok?” 

Peter shook his head and bit his lips. 

“Yondu,” He heard Kraglin call to him. He looked over his shoulder. The lanky man picked his way over, he looked a little unsettled, but kept his attention on Yondu. “We need to go too.” 

Yondu nodded. 

“Pete, I’m gonna pick you up, boy.” Peter nodded and Yondu scooped him up like he was made of glass. 

“Uh, you should probably put that away.” Kraglin pointed at the arrow still hovering. Yondu tucked Peter against him and reached up, closing his hand around the warm, slick shaft. 

The arrow went still in his hand. Yondu marveled at it, then wrapped his arm back around Peter.

“What now?” Yondu said turning to Kraglin. “Yer buddies fucked us.” 

Kraglin shook his head. 

“I just can’t believe Tullk would do that,” Kraglin said. “But for  now we need to get the hell out of here. ”

Peter shivered in Yondu’s arms and hid his face in Yondu’s shoulder, he whimpered. 

“Boy’s hurt,” Yondu said. Kraglin nodded. 

“We’ll deal with it when we get someplace safe.” Kraglin put a hand on Yondu’s shoulder and tried to guide him along. 

Yondu looked around and saw the carnage around him. Not everyone was dead, but they were all injured. Some moaned and rolled around. Others, the dead, just gaped in surprise at the ceiling, exact holes in their skulls. 

They began to cross the garage again, which seemed like crossing a vast plane suddenly. Yondu tired not to look too hard at Brad Sr. dead body, though knowing it was there was a small comfort. 

“Wait,” Yondu wandered over to the boxes again and toed a few around. “Help me find the box with his name on it.” Yondu said. Kraglin looked at him like he was nuts, but quickly begin to paw through the boxes. He found a small one with Peter’s name on it, and the remains of the one Yondu had picked through. He dumped Peter’s into Yondu’s and hauled the whole thing out. 

“Please can we go now?” Kraglin said by the door. Yondu nodded. Kraglin took them to the delivery truck, stupidly left in front of the house. He held the door as Yondu climbed in awkwardly, trying not to jar Peter too much. 

Kraglin hopped in the other side, saw the key was missing and swore. He ducked under the steering column and hot-wired the thing. Then he ducked back up Yondu gave him a look. Kraglin shrugged.

“What, I like to work on cars.”

“Uh-huh,” Yondu said as the truck rumbled away. “So you know where yer going?”

“Yes, actually,” Kraglin said keeping his eyes on the road. “I’ve been to Stakar’s house a few times. But I’m gonna dump the truck a bit of the way out and have him meet us somewhere else.”

Yondu didn’t really have anything to add at this moment. The world was happening around him. Everything seemed to be not quite real. The only things that grounded him was Peter’s far to cold body and the warm metal arrow in his hand. He had no clue what the arrow meant, or why it was in a box with his name on it, but he did know Peter was injured and probably going into shock. 

Kraglin drove them to the far side of town, tapping his com as he went. When Stakar’s voice came on, even that didn’t help bring Yondu out of his other-worldly haze. He sat as Kraglin told Stakar where to meet them, and didn’t react when they finally came to a stop under a bridge. Kraglin got out and came around to Yondu’s side and opened the door. 

“Tullk can come get his own damn truck,” Kraglin said. “Hey, Yondu? Get out, Stakar’s already here.”

Yondu blinked and tried to focus on Kraglin, but he was blurry.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yondu said confused. A darker, bury figure walked up behind Kraglin and Yondu felt like he should say something, but never got a chance to figure out what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader!
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.


	6. Hope was last.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stakar takes matters into his own hands, whether Yondu likes it or not.

Yondu woke in a soft bed that smelled like warm, soft musk. He rolled over in it and strangled a cry as pain jabbed at his ribs. When had he gotten hit in the ribs?

The scene in the garage flashed in his mind, and his implant hummed. 

Someone outside the door to the room shouted. There was the sound of footsteps running and then the door opened.

“Hey Yondu,” Kraglin called into the room. “Uh, you, uh awake?” 

“Yeh,” His voice was gravely like he’d been screaming all night.

“Can you, maybe, turn that arrow thing off?”

It took him a minute to figure out what Kraglin meant, then he closed his eyes and concentrated. 

It was weird. It was like he could sense things outside himself through the arrow, not see them exactly, but definitely feel them. He could tell Stakar was in the room with the arrow, and that Kraglin wasn’t far either. What they looked like exactly wasn’t clear, but their general presence was. 

“I think I need to touch it,” Yondu said, still not a hundred percent sure how this was working. “Where’s Peter?” 

“Kid’s asleep in the guest room,” Kraglin said watching the hall as Yondu painfully got up. 

“Where am I?” Yondu asked getting his feet under him. He felt every single bone in his body and none of them were happy.

“Stakar’s room. I told you he came to get us.” Kraglin spared him a look. “Yer really gonna be pissed at yerself if you skewer Stakar with that thing.”

Yondu felt a slight wave a panic. Was he pointing his arrow at Stakar right now? He felt the hum in his head stop, and Kraglin relaxed. 

“Oh thank fuck,” Kraglin sighed. “How the hell are you doing that anyway?” 

“I don’t know,” Yondu said. He didn’t, but he knew it was connected to his implant. Stakar came into the room and flipped on the light switch. Yondu and Kraglin blinked.

“What is this?” He asked holding the arrow in his hand. “How were you making it fly?”

“I don’t know.” Yondu said. “I honestly don’t know. It just, comes to life when my implant hums.” He reached out and took the arrow from Stakar. It was as long as his forearm, and about as thick as his finger. It was sharp too, he pressed the tip to his thumb and it drew blood almost instantly. 

“Where did you find it?” Stakar asked, still seemingly mystified, but not sacred. He hadn’t seen what the slim golden device could do.

“It was in the box Brad Sr. had of all my stuff.” He looked up into Stakar’s black, star studded eyes. “It called to me.”

Stakar shook his head. He didn’t seem to have an answer. Yondu sighed. 

“Where’s Peter, he wasn’t doing so well last time I saw him.” 

“I put him in the guest room. A friend of mine is looking him over. His left arm is broken, but he’ll be ok.” Stakar put his hand on Yondu’s shoulder. “I’d like you to let them look at you too.” 

Yondu looked skeptical at the word ‘friend’ and looked over at Kraglin, who was doing this best to ignore them again. It was weird and unsettling the way Kraglin did and didn’t look at them. 

“I guess,” Yondu said. He’d not seen many doctors in his life since he came to live with Brad Sr., and he was a little jumpy of anyone’s friends just now. But this was Stakar, and he had this nifty new arrow thing. “But I want to see Peter first.”

Stakar smiled, and laid an arm gently over his shoulders.

“Sure.” 

 

***

 

Peter was fine. Broken arm aside. Yondu sat on the edge of the bed watching him sleep as Stakar’s friend, some red flat faced thing with weird wings coming off his head, waved his hands around and made pictures float in the air. Yondu didn’t really give a shit what the guy was saying, but Stakar seemed to be.

“What about his implant?” Stakar asked, and Yondu turned to look at him. Images flashed showing a cartoonish version of his implant connecting to an outline of his head. Then the implant flashed red and the golden arrow flew around the image. 

“Yah, I figured that much out myself,” Yondu said. “How the fuck do I make it work?”

A simple image of a childish blue hart floated in the air and pulsed. Yondu got the gist of it, and frowned. He looked back at Peter. 

“Krugarr said he’ll recover fine, nothing is permanent,” Stakar said putting a hand on Yondu’s shoulder. He liked to do that it seemed and Yondu liked the weight f it and the warmth. “He says you’ll heal up too, physically.”

Yondu understood the rest of the unstated comment. He was screwed up, he knew it. Question was, could he learn to function in spite of it?

“So what’s gonna happen now?” Yondu asked. Brad Sr. might be dead, but he’d left a fair number of people alive, including Halfnut and Taserface. There was no way he was getting out of this, and Kraglin had apparently taken out a couple of his own, not to mention the bite wounds on Brad Sr. What about him? “No way you can make this all go away.”

“No, I can’t,” Stakar said and there was remorse in his voice. It hurt to hear it. 

“Than what?” Yondu got up. There was no point in watching the boy sleep, he wasn’t going to get better faster just because Yondu was there. Stakar looked from the sleeping boy to Yondu and gestured for  Yondu to follow him. 

They went back to Stakar’s room, and Stakar paced after he closed the door. 

“I have some connections, it won’t smooth everything over, not here, but it will allow Kraglin to keep teaching. Hopefully, it will allow you to finish school too, if you’ll do it.” Stakar stopped pacing to look at him. “I want you to finish school Yondu.”

Yondu nodded, this seemed weird to be talking about, but he sat down to take it in. 

“What about Peter?” Yondu was a lot more concerned about the brat finishing school than him. Stakar nodded with a small smile. 

“I can set it up. You’re an adult Yondu, it’s a stretch, but you could take him.” Stakar said. “It just won’t be here, on this planet.”

There was a lot to unpackage there, and Yondu didn’t like most of it. Keeping Peter safe from Brad Sr. had been one thing, being responsible for him was another thing completely. He felt an entirely different chill go down his spine when Stakar mentioned it would all happen off-planet.

“So,” Yondu put it all together, and the picture was shit. “You’re sending me away?” 

Stakar stopped pacing and ran his hand through his hair. He seemed to be looking for something to say, and the longer it took, the more dread Yondu felt in his gut. Stakar finally looked at him and there were sparks in his eyes again.

“Yondu, I screwed up. I know you won’t believe me, but I hurt you, and I,” He grappled for words again. “I won’t keep doing that. I won’t continue the cycle that you were forced into.”

“You didn’t force me to do nothing,” Yondu said. He felt like he’d swallowed led. “I wanted that, I still want that!”

Stakar nodded and looked miserable.

“I know,” He said softly and he didn’t look at Yondu for a long moment. “It’s not right what I did. You needed someone to protect you, to help you, not,” Stakar gestured helplessly. “Abuse you.”

“You didn’t!” Yondu found his feet and Stakar shook his head. 

“You’ll understand later, I promise. Just, please, trust me on this?” Stakar backed up to his door and reached for the handle. 

“So, you’re running away, then sending me away?” Yondu felt anger slowly replacing the dread in his system. Stakar sighed in the doorway.

“It seems that way doesn’t it?” He said sadly. He shook his head. “I can’t trust myself around you, Yondu.” He looked over his shoulder and the flashes in his eyes were gone, all Yondu saw was deep black. Not even the stars were there now. “I am truly sorry, Yondu. Please let me fix this, the right way.” He pulled the door open and fled. 

Yondu felt, well he didn’t really know. He’d never felt quite like this before. It was definitely unpleasant, and he was pissed. But there was a lot more to it, and most of it was directed at Stakar, which was something he didn’t think possible. 

He wiped at his cheeks, and his hands came away wet. He just stared at the glistening streak on his fingers. Was he crying? Why the fuck was he crying?

“Hey Yondu?” Kraglin walked in his attention still out in the hall. “I just saw Stakar and he looked, I don’t know, kinda bad?” Kraglin noticed Yondu and paused. “Well fuck,” he said. Yondu looked up at the scrawny man and just shrugged. “Shit Yondu.” Kraglin leaned in the doorway. “I’m sorry buddy.” 

“I did something wrong,” Yondu said. He didn’t like the way his voice shook. 

“Nah,” Kraglin said. Yondu just shook his head. He had. He’d done it all wrong. If he’d just told Stakar everything right off, this wouldn’t have happened. “No you didn’t.” Kraglin insisted. “This was bound to happen, Yondu.”

“Why?” Yondu looked at Kraglin like he was insane. “We was fine until, I should have just, how do I fix it?”

Kraglin looked like he was in pain. He looked at Yondu, then the floor, then anywhere but back at Yondu.

“This is fixing it,” Kraglin said somberly. “There’s a line Yondu, he crossed it.”

“I don’t understand!” Yondu said and the pain in his own voice made him cringe. Kraglin just pressed his lips together and shook his head. 

“Yeh, I know.” Kraglin scratched the back of his neck. He looked uncomfortably, but didn’t try and leave. Yondu paced, he took deep breaths. He hurt. He hurt a lot, and this pain was in his chest and his stomach and he didn’t understand it. He could shrug off bruises and cracked bones. This wasn’t any of those things. 

He clamped his eyes shut and just breathed, he’d push through this. Maybe there was reason for it. Maybe it was a test. He’d suck it up then. Stakar said he’d fix it and he wanted more than anything to believe that would happen. 

“You uh,” Kraglin shifted from his spot. “You gonna be alright?” Yondu glared at him. Why did people keep asking him some variation of that question? 

“Do I look alright?” He growled. 

“Not really,” Kraglin said. “But I don’t know if you want company or not.”

“Well I don’t,” Yondu said. “I ain't gonna do nothin stupid, if that’s what yer worried about.”

Kraglin pursed his lips and arched his eyebrows, then nodded. 

“Alright. I’m gonna check on Peter. I’m just down the hall.” Kraglin gave Yondu one last look, then slunk away. 

Yondu was glad to see the lanky man go. Glad to be rid of the stupid questions and the mournful looks. He covered his face and sank back on the bed, he knew how to handle this part.

He knew how to be alone.

 

Fin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader!
> 
> This is the end of the arch, but not the AU. There's more to come. 
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thanks to @TheMockingDahila for their help as a beta reader! 
> 
> Constructive comments always welcome.


End file.
